Future Imperfect
by Proteus-92
Summary: Six hundred years have passed since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai. Three hundred years after, a devastating war swept across the world, wiping out the benders. Now, the new Avatar must fight an evil that threatens a world that now hates and fears his kind.
1. Chapter I: Rebirth

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

My mother used to tell me stories about the old days. About how the world used to be divided into four nations; and how each nation had had great warriors who defended them… warriors able to bend the elements themselves to their will. The greatest bender of all was the Avatar, master of all four elements, responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Then, three hundred years ago, everything changed. A great and terrible war ignited between those who could bend, and those who could not. At the war's end, the benders, and the Avatar, were all but exterminated. Some say that when the benders died out, the bending arts were lost forever. But I believe that the benders are still alive, and that one day, their time will come again.

Future Imperfect

(Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Chapter I: Rebirth

A boy walked cautiously among rows of corn. At each stalk, he examined the ear- if he found it satisfactory, he cut the ear from the stalk and dropped it in his basket; if not, he left the ear on the stalk and continued to the next stalk. The sun was high overhead, but the boy was almost already at the end of the cornfield. He looked down at his basket; save for a few ears of corn, it was nearly empty. The boy was slightly disappointed, but wasn't surprised; it would be a few more weeks before the majority of the crops ripened. The boy reached the end of the field without finding any other ears of corn. Disappointed again, he turned and walked toward his house with his meager supply. He stepped inside, and dropped his basket on the table. A woman busy tending to a fire looked over her shoulder and asked, "Any luck out there Jin?" Jin sat down on the floor and replied, "Sorry Mom, but the corn isn't going to be ready for a few more weeks." There was a short pause, then Jin asked, "Mom, can you tell me that one story? About how everything used to be?"

"You've heard that story a hundred times already. But, one more wouldn't hurt, I suppose." She turned away from the fire. "Long ago, the world was divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Living in each nation were warriors called benders, who could control one of the four elements. The most powerful bender of all was called the Avatar, and was the master of all four elements. His job was to maintain the balance between the four nations. But the benders began to abuse their power, and one day, a war broke out between the benders and ordinary people. Both sides were sure that the benders would win. But the impossible happened- the benders lost. The Avatar vanished during the war, and was never heard from again. Many believe that all benders were hunted down and exterminated after the war, but some people say that a few benders were able to escape, and now their descendants live among ordinary people, keeping the practice of bending alive in secret." Jin laid back and said, "No matter how many times I hear that story, I still enjoy it." He sat back up. "Is there anything else I have to do?" His mother replied, "No, I think that's all." Jin stood up and said, "Okay. I'm going to my room then." As he walked to his room, his mother called to him, "Dinner will be ready in an hour." He entered his room and closed the door behind him.

Jin crossed the room and flopped down on his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the way things were three hundred years ago. It must have been incredible: creating fire with a snap of one's fingers, flying, building an entire city, literally from the ground up- things people would call miracles in his time, little more than daily occurrences then. Jin couldn't imagine why anyone would want to exterminate the benders. To him it seemed that their presence was more beneficial than anything. But for whatever reason, the benders were gone now, and even if some continued to survive in hiding, it would be some time before they could re-emerge. Three hundred years had done little to soften the prejudice directed at benders; any documents that referred to them portrayed them as ruthless slavers and tyrants interested only in controlling the world. But Jin knew that those were lies.

"Not everything that you've heard was a lie," Jin heard someone say. He quickly sat up and looked around; his room was empty. Then, there was a strong gust of wind, blowing up a cloud of dust; the cloud was quickly blown away, revealing a man in its place. He was fairly young, in his twenties at the latest. He was completely bald, but on his head was a tattoo of an arrow; he also wore unusual robes in orange and yellow. Jin stared in shock; from what he heard in the stories, he was looking at a genuine Air Nomad. "Once, the benders were a noble and proud people, but then they grew arrogant, and in their pride, they couldn't see the suffering they caused. The Avatar was weak, unable to keep balance between them, and so, the benders were wiped out." Jin asked, "Who are you?" The man replied, "My name is Aang. I was the Avatar many hundreds of years ago, and your predecessor."

"What? What do you mean 'my predecessor'?"

"That means is that I was you in a past life. You are the newest Avatar."

"But that's impossible! The Avatar disappeared in the war three hundred years ago!"

Aang began to pace the room. "The Avatar is a spiritual being. When he dies, his spirit is reincarnated into the next nation of the Avatar cycle."

"Wait. I've heard about you. You were alive before the war. But why did you show up instead of the Avatar before me?"

"That's because they didn't know they were the Avatar. They weren't ready to know, so I never revealed myself to them. But I feel that I can trust you, and now I don't have a choice. There is a great evil coming. Right now, as we speak, there are people trying to unlock the power of the ancient bending disciplines, and use that power to enslave the world, just as the benders tried to three hundred years ago. You have to stop them."

"How?"

"You have to find the remaining benders, master the four elements, and stop them before they begin their attack."

"But how am I supposed to find the benders?"

"They're all around you. You just have to know where to look."

"How long do I have until they attack?"

"They won't show themselves until they're at their strongest. My guess is that they'll begin the attack on New Year's Day. You have to master all the elements before then."

"New Year's Day? That's six months away."

"You'll need that time to learn the bending styles. If you're going to have a chance to stop them, then you need to master all four before New Year's."

"Who's 'them?'"

"They… are the descendants of the generals who led the war against the benders. After the war's end, they devoted the remainder of their lives to finding the secrets of bending, to create more effective, deadlier soldiers. As generations passed, their goal eventually degenerated into creating an army with which they can take over the world. Now they've almost found the secret, and unless you stop them, they will undoubtedly succeed."

Jin sat in silence for a short time. "You have the wrong person. There's no way I'm the Avatar." Aang sat down next to him and replied, "Well, you are. The fact that you can see me proves it." Jin pulled his legs against his chest. "But I don't feel any different. I thought that when things like this happened, you were supposed to feel… different somehow."

"I know. I didn't feel any different when I found out I was the Avatar either. But everyone I knew started treating me differently. I was under so much of pressure all the time, I didn't think I could handle it." Jin turned to him and said, "But that was different. People actually looked up to you. They depended on you- the world depended on you. But not any more. The world hates benders now. And they'd hate me too." Aang replied, "Are we really any different? You might not know this, but I was frozen in a block of ice for a hundred years, right before the Fire Nation began a devastating war. People knew only I could stop them, but when I didn't show up, they started losing faith in the Avatar. Some even started to hate me. But I still did what I had to in order to defeat the Fire Lord, no matter what anybody thought of me."

"But you still had something I don't: a clearly defined enemy. The truth is, with the way the world is now, the entire world is my enemy. And if anybody found out about me, they'd have me executed… or worse."

"It was the same way in my time- there were plenty that would've liked to see the end of the Avatar. And there's something else we have in common: we're the last hope for the world. When I was the Avatar, I was the last hope because I was the only airbender until after the war. For you, if you're killed, by the time the next Avatar is old enough to fight, it would be too late to stop the soldiers." Aang sighed. "I know it seems like everything's against you, but you're the Avatar. You're the only person who can do this." Jin then asked, "What do I have to do first?"

"First we have to figure out your native element. You're the sixth Avatar after me, and I'm an airbender, so…" Aang counted up on his fingers. "Water, earth, fire, air, water… earth. You'll have to start by finding an earthbending teacher." Jin stood up and said, "Well that's awfully convenient. We're in what used to be the Earth Kingdom, so there might be some pockets of earthbenders somewhere." Aang stood up as well and said, "Then we should get going." Jin looked over at Aang and said, "Not yet. I have something I have to take care of first." He stood up and left his room. His mother was still preparing dinner. She saw him and said, "Dinner isn't going to be ready for a few more minutes, Jin." He walked over to a table in the center of the room, sat at a chair in front of it, and said, "Mom, there's something I need to talk to you about." She sat down in front of him and asked, "What is it, Jin?" He looked down and replied, "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I don't know how you'll take this, but… I want to leave the farm. I know you'll try to talk me into staying, but there's an entire world out there. My destiny's out there somewhere, beyond this farm, but if I stay here I'll never be able to find it. So… I want to go, and find my destiny out there." Jin's mother took his hand, and said, "Jin, you're young, and I know children your age dream of seeing the world. And… and we thought something like this would happen eventually. I know there isn't much for you here, and I knew you'd want to see the world, so I decided if you ever asked for this… I'd… I'd let you go." Jin asked, "Really?"

"Of course. Just give me some time to get everything ready for you."

"Thanks Mom."


	2. Chapter II: Beginnings

Chapter II: Beginnings

The next morning, Jin and his mother stood by the front of their home. She held out a pack toward him and said, "There's enough food and money to last you for a month." Jin took the pack and shouldered it; his mother then said, "Before you go, there's one last thing you should take with you." She reached for something behind her, and then presented Jin with a sheathed sword. Jin took the sword and unsheathed it, examining his reflection in the blade. "That sword belonged to your father when he was your age. I'm sure… he would've wanted you to have it." He sheathed the sword. Then, she embraced Jin tightly and said, "Be safe, and no matter what happens, I'll be proud of you. And… I'm sure your father would be proud of you, too." She let go. Jin said to her, "Thank you. I promise I'll come back one day," before he turned away from her, and began to walk away. Jin began to walk down the road in silence. "I can't imagine how that must've been for you. But we can't dwell on that. We need to focus on the task at hand," Aang's voice said somewhere to Jin's right. Jin replied, "Right. We need to start looking for an earthbending teacher." He then asked, "Do you have any ideas where they might be hiding?" Aang appeared next to Jin and replied, "I'm not exactly sure. My guess is that they'd be underground, or in caves, or something like that."

"That makes sense. In places like that, they're hidden, and there's plenty of earth for them to bend." Jin thought for a moment. "But I'm an outsider. Even if I found them, there's no way they'd just let me in unless I could prove I was the Avatar. And I don't have any idea how to do that." Aang replied, "You don't need to worry about that. Just let me talk to them, and I'm sure they'd be willing to cooperate." Jin checked his surroundings, and then said, "I guess we can start with those mountains over there." He pointed to his left. "A place like that has to have all kinds of places someone can hide."

A few hours later, at dusk, Jin arrived the base of one of the mountains he'd pointed out. As he looked up at it, he said, "We're here. I guess we should start looking for earthbenders." Aang appeared next to him, looking up at the mountains as well, and asked, "You don't really think it's going to be that easy, do you? If there really are any earthbenders here, then they would have gone to some length to keep their presence here a secret."

"Well I'm not sure what to expect. After all, I've never seen a bender before, remember?" Their conversation was interrupted by some noises in the distance; though faint, they sounded like shouts. "Did you hear that?" Jin asked. "It sounded like someone yelling. Maybe we should check it out." Jin began to make his way toward the source of the noise. As he approached, the shouts became louder; finally, he came to a hill- the shouts floated out from the other side. Jin began to climb to the top, lowering himself against the terrain as much as he could. He peered over the top of the hill; before him, in an expansive valley, roughly a dozen people were gathering various herbs. He watched as one made their way to another who stood by the base of another mountain. They placed a basket in a pile of other baskets near the other before taking another, empty basket. The one at the base lowered himself into an unusual stance, and then moved his arms in a large circle. Then, the ground he stood on began to slide up the side of the mountain. Jin stared in amazement- the stories were true. The benders were still alive.

"I can't believe it," Jin said. "They really do exist." From next to him, Aang said, "Well, the earthbenders made up the largest population of benders in the world before the war, so there had to some that went into hiding. But I can't say anything about the other benders, though." Jin asked, "What should I do now, then?" Suddenly, Jin felt himself sinking. He looked down, and saw he was being pulled into the ground. He tried to get up, but he couldn't break free from the pull. Then, Jin stopped sinking. The group from the valley then approached, and stood around him in a large circle. One asked, "How long has he been sitting there?" Another answered, "Not very long. A couple minutes, maybe." Yet another said, "He doesn't look like much of a soldier. A spy, maybe?" The first then said, "It doesn't matter what he is. He saw us, and there's no way we're letting him leave now." He raised his arms; a boulder lifted itself from the ground and hung in the air over Jin. Then, the boulder fell.

But it never reached the ground. A massive explosion burst from where Jin had been trapped. The boulder had been blown away, as had the people surrounding him. The explosion threw up a thick, impenetrable cloud of dust; suddenly, the dust was blown away, and standing in a crater where Jin had been buried stood Aang, his eyes and tattoos glowing pure white. One member of the group, in shock, said "Avatar Aang!" He calmly walked out of the crater, approached the man who had first spoken, and said, "Do not be deceived by this child's appearance, for he is the Avatar and my descendant. I have mastered the elements a thousand times, and to save the world, I must do it again. You will teach this boy earthbending, or you shall face severe consequences." The man bowed to Aang and said, "As you wish, Avatar." There was another gust, and Jin reappeared, holding his head. "Ugh… what just happened?" he asked. The man who had first spoken approached Jin and said, "Avatar, your predecessor has instructed us to teach you earthbending. Come with me." He began to walk toward the mountain. After a moment, Jin followed. as they stood at the base, the man who had been waiting there repeated his actions from before, and the ground beneath them began to slide up the mountain. Near the peak, the earth platform stopped. The man raised an arm, creating a hole in the side of the mountain. They entered, and began descending a long spiral staircase; as they descended, the man said to Jin, "You must forgive our behavior, but the location of our settlement must be kept secret from outsiders. Old prejudices against our kind remain strong even after three hundred years. My name is Wei Shin, the leader of this community." Jin replied, "I'm Jin, and I'm… well, I'm the Avatar, but you already know that. And from what Avatar Aang told me, I'm an earthbender, too. That's why I came here." Wei Shin said to him, "Well, our community is small. We don't have any earthbending teachers. But there is one in the Inner Ring. She's the best earthbender in the entire world." Confused, Jin asked, "Inner Ring? What are you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough," Wei Shin said. They continued to descend the staircase; finally, the ground leveled out, but the tunnel was still dark. Then, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, growing brighter as they approached. Finally, they stepped out of the tunnel. Jin stared in shock; in front of him was a massive city nestled in an even larger cavern. Hanging from the city's buildings were thousands upon thousands of lanterns, illuminating the city like little suns. "Impressed?" Wei Shin asked. "I don't know if you'll believe me, but this is only one of twelve communities like this. This one is called Section 5. I'll explain as we head into the city." He began to walk down toward the buildings, with Jin following. Wei Shin continued, "Like I said before, Section 5 is one of twelve districts that surround a central hub. The twelve districts are arranged in a circle, and are collectively called the Outer Ring. Those are the residential areas of the city. The central hub is called the Inner Ring, and is where the market, schools, and pretty much else is located." Jin turned and asked, "Didn't you say you were the leader of the city?" Wei Shin replied, "No. Each district is led by a governor- I'm simply the governor of Section 5. The council holds the power over all of Bei Fong." Just then, Aang's voice asked, "Bei Fong?" Jin asked, "Do you know that name, Aang?" Wei Shin looked over his shoulder and asked, "Who are you talking to?" Jin replied, "I was talking to Avatar Aang." He then asked, "Sorry Aang. Is that name familiar?" Aang appeared next to Jin and said, "Well, back when I was trying to defeat the Fire Lord, I met an earthbender who agreed to be my teacher. Her name was Toph Bei Fong." Jin replied, "I see," then turned to Wei Shin and said, "Avatar Aang said he traveled with someone named Toph Bei Fong. Are she and the city related somehow?"

Wei Shin thought for a moment then replied, "Yes they are. Our lineage starts with the first Toph, who traveled with the Avatar, but the city was not founded by her, but rather, her great-great-grandchildren. After the war, they gathered together all the earthbenders they could find, and led them here, to this mountain range, and the ruins of Gaoling, Toph's home. Then, they dug these caverns, and began to build this city. They spent the rest of their lives building this place, but they died before it was completed. So, when the city was finished, we named it Bei Fong in their honor." The two began to climb a long set of stairs up to a large platform; the top was divided by a deep groove which stretched in opposite directions, extended by two lengthy bridges. In the groove sat a large train made of stone. "This is one of many trains that connect the different areas of Bei Fong together. They allow easy transport between the twelve districts, and the central hub. We'll need to go the Inner Ring to meet your earthbending teacher." Jin and Wei Shin boarded the train, and sat on an empty bench. The train lurched, and then began to slide down the track, toward the Inner Ring. The lights of Section 5 disappeared as the train entered a tunnel, surrounding it in darkness. For some time, the two sat in silence, and then Jin asked, "Wei Shin, just out of curiosity, is everybody here an earthbender?" He replied, "No, but the vast majority of Bei Fong's residents are indeed earthbenders. When the founders of the city gathered followers, they were allowed to bring their families with them. Some of these people were not earthbenders, but were allowed to live in the city."

There was silence between them again. Then, the darkness vanished instantly, to be replaced with another city. It was like District 5, but was infinitely more massive. Jin stared out the train's windows, trying to take in as much of the incredible sight as he could. Wei Shin continued to sit in silence. The train pulled into platform and stopped. Jin disembarked from the train first and stared out over the buildings that seemed to stretch on forever. As Wei Shin approached, Jin said, "This place is incredible! I've never seen anywhere like it." Wei Shi replied, "That's because there is no place like Bei Fong anywhere in the world." He then began to descend the platform steps and said, "But you'll have plenty of time to see the city later on. First, we need to introduce you to your earthbending teacher. Please follow me." Jin followed him down the stairs, and through the alleyways of the city. Eventually, they came to a building with a large walled courtyard. "This is the earthbending school," Wei Shin said, as he and Jin crossed the courtyard. "Today's lessons are over, but the Master should still be inside." They entered a large door in the building, into a large training room. They crossed the room to another door; Wei Shin knocked and said to someone on the other side, "Forgive my intrusion Master, but I have found a new student for you." A voice on the other side of the door replied, "You do? Tell me about him." The voice was female, and fairly young. Wei Shin said, "His name is Jin. He's… the Avatar, and he needs an earthbending teacher."

"Really? The Avatar?" The door slid open. Behind it was a girl- she had short black hair and cold gray eyes. But what surprised Jin the most was her age- she couldn't possibly have been any older than him. She approached Jin (as she stood in front of him, Jin saw she was only slightly taller than him), looked at him closely, and said, "He doesn't look like he'd be much of an earthbender." Jin stared at the girl and said, "You're going to be my earthbending teacher? This has to be a joke. You're just a kid!" The girl snapped back, "Well, you don't look too much like an Avatar yourself!" Wei Shin then said, "Avatar Jin, don't be fooled by her appearance. I assure you that Master Toph is the finest earthbender in Bei Fong." Toph smiled at Wei Shin and said, "Thank you, governor." She then turned back with a hard glare at Jin and said, "You start training tomorrow. You can stay the night in the school if you want." She turned back to Wei Shin. "Governor, before you leave, could you post a sign saying the school is closed? Tomorrow I want to give the Avatar my… full and undivided attention." Wei Shin bowed, and said, "As you wish, Master Toph," before he turned and left the room. Toph then turned back to Jin. She said nothing, glared at him again before following Wei Shin. Jin distinctly heard her mumble, "Avatar…" just as she left the room.

Later that night, Jin stared up at the dark ceiling as he lay in his sleeping bag. From the darkness, Aang's voice asked, "Jin?" He sat up and also asked, "What's on your mind, Aang?" Aang appeared sitting next to Jin, and replied, "I wanted to talk to you about your earthbending teacher."

"Master Toph? Seems like a real piece of work to me. What do you think?"

"Remember what I told you about my earthbending teacher?"

"Yeah. Your earthbending teacher was named Toph. And my earthbending teacher is named Toph, too. Big deal. It's probably just a coincidence."

"I don't think so. Can you ask her about it after you lesson tomorrow?"

"Alright, if it gives back your peace of mind, I'll ask her about it. Now let me get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow's not going to go so well."


	3. Chapter III: The Earthbending Master

Chapter III: The Earthbending Master

"Wake up!"

Before he could fully awaken, Jin was thrown into the air, and landed with a hard thump. His eyes half closed from pain, Jin saw Toph standing over him. "Good morning, pupil," she said in a sickeningly sweet tone. "Welcome to your first earthbending lesson. I'm expecting a lot out of you, so I want you to try your hardest out there!" She bent down, glowered at him and said, "I'm not going to go easy on you, even if you are the Avatar. I promise that if you live through this first lesson, I'll make you the best earthbender in the world. Well, the best earthbender after me, of course. Now get up. I'll see you in the courtyard." She turned and left. Jin quickly climbed out of his sleeping bag and followed her. "Okay, okay," he said as he entered the courtyard. "I'm ready to--" At that moment, a rock instantly hit Jin from the left, sending him sprawling. "From that little display, I'd say you aren't ready for anything," he heard Toph say from somewhere to his left. Jin stood up and said, "You just caught me off guard. Can we start the lesson now?" Toph walked over to him and replied, "I suppose so." She stomped, and two blocks of stone rose up from the ground; she then leaned against one and said, "I want you to move this rock." Jin approached the rock, and said, "Alright." A pause. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Toph smacked her forehead. "Ugh. I have to hold your hand through everything, don't I?" She stood up straight, faced the rock, and said, "First, you have to get into a stance. It has to be firm and solid, like a rock." She lowered herself into a stance, "Then, you focus your energy, and…" She thrust her hand into the rock, sending it sliding across the courtyard. "…earthbending. Now you try it." Jin then lowered himself into an earthbending stance in front of the rock, and thrust out his arm against the rock. Nothing happened. The stone didn't budge. Instead, an intense pain shot through Jin's hand. Both he and Toph stared at the stone for a few moments, then, Toph began snickering. Her snickers grew louder and louder, and soon, she was doubled over in helpless laughter. Eventually, she regained control of herself long enough to say, "That must've hurt," before succumbing to another fit on uncontrollable laughter. Jin stretched his sore fingers and asked, "What's so funny?" Toph's laughter died away and she replied, "Nothing. Let's just keep going."

The following exercises were just as brutal as the first. Jin seemed to make no progress earthbending, which frustrated him immensely. Toph was an unforgiving teacher, punishing the slightest mistake or infraction without mercy. Hours passed without the slightest trace of progress; Jin eventually began to wonder if the lesson was, in fact, nothing more than an act of revenge against his "insult." After one particular exercise, Jin had been buried in a pile of earth; Toph freed him and said, "I have good news for you. After this next exercise, you'll be done with the first lesson." Jin asked, "Okay then, what do I have to do?" Toph raised a tall, steep ramp of rock out of the ground, then raised a boulder at its top and replied, "All you have to do is stop that boulder. If you do, then you pass the first lesson." She raised a platform to the top of the ramp, then nudged the boulder over the edge. The boulder tumbled down the ramp, building up incredible speed in a very short amount of time. Jin watched the boulder, wondering what he should do. There was no way he could stop the boulder- he couldn't earthbend, and trying to stop it with his bare hands would be suicide. The boulder rolled off the ramp, and straight toward him; rather than attempting to stop it, Jin simply stepped out of the boulder's path. Then, something beneath him struck his chin hard, knocking him off his feet. Toph was standing over him again, and she asked, "What was that? You didn't even try to stop the boulder. If you weren't going to stop it, you should have at least given it the pleasure of crushing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp. You know, if you keep defying me like this, I'm not going to be your teacher." Jin stood up, brushed himself off, and replied, "Look, I can see this is all a big joke for you, but if you're not going to teach me how to earthbend, then at least point me in the direction of someone who will." He began to make his way for the courtyard entrance. Confused, Toph asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know what I did to insult you, but I know you're doing this to get back at me for it. Am I right?" Even more confused, Toph asked, "You really think that's what's going on? You've got to be kidding me." Jin walked out of the school without responding, as he strode down the city streets, Aang's voice said, "Jin, I think you're overreacting to this situation." Jin replied harshly, "I don't care. If I need an earthbending teacher that badly, I'll find another one. There's now way I'm letting her teach me." Aang's voice then said, "You have to understand, it wasn't personal. Master Toph's method of teaching is just… aggressive. My earthbending teacher was the same way." There was a tug on Jin's shoulder. He turned; Toph was standing behind him. "What do you want?" he asked. She turned and said, "We need to talk. Come on," and began to walk away. Jin caught up to her and asked, "Where are we going? She replied, "You'll see. But first, I'll answer your question." Jin opened his mouth, but before he could ask how she knew, she answered, "I could tell by the look on your face. You had it ever since we started training this morning. And I know exactly what you're going to ask- You want to know about my name, don't you? Avatar Aang put you up to this, didn't he? What does he think?"

"Aang told me he had an earthbending teacher who was also named Toph, and he's convinced you and her are related somehow."

"Well… he'd be right. The first Toph in our family traveled with one of the Avatars- Aang, specifically. She was my great-great-great-great… well, you get the idea. She lived six hundred years ago. A few years after she helped the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord, she took over the Bei Fong family. She had only one child- a daughter, who was also named Toph. That sort of became a tradition in our family- after that, every firstborn daughter in the Bei Fong family was named Toph, for good luck. By a strange coincidence, or maybe fate, every Toph in our family was a very powerful earthbender, too."

"So all the firstborn daughters in your family are named Toph?"

"Yeah. All of them; my grandmother was named Toph, my mom is named Toph, and if I ever have a daughter, I'll probably name her Toph, too."

"I see." Jin then said, "You were right, Aang. They were related. Literally." Aang's voice replied, "I heard." There was a short pause, then Jin asked, "You knew about this, didn't you?"

"Actually, no. But I had a hunch." Jin looked over at where Aang's voice came from, but he wasn't there; he then realized they were riding in one of the trains. "Wait, how did we get here?" he asked Toph. She replied, "You should have been paying more attention to where you were going. But anyway, I wanted to show you something. It's in Section 1. Anyway, now I'll answer your second question. No, the lesson wasn't just some elaborate revenge plot against you- it's like that for all my potential students. The first lesson's supposed to weed out anyone who isn't strong enough to learn earthbending. But you passed, so now you can begin the real training."

She then turned to Jin and asked, "Now tell me, what's so important that the Avatar is traveling around trying to master the four elements? Isn't that kind of dangerous for you?" Jin looked at the floor and replied, "Avatar Aang said that there's a group of people trying to unlock the power of the bending styles. He says that they'll begin their attack on New Year's Day, and that if I want to stop them, I have to master all four elements before then."

"New Year's Day? That's in six months. Sounds pretty rough. Why would those guys want to learn bending, though?"

"Aang says that the original generals who started the group wanted to make deadlier soldiers. Now, their descendants are trying to make an army strong enough to take over the world. I'm actually surprised that wasn't their intent in the first place."

"Interesting. Who exactly are these guys?"

"I just told you, they're the descendants of… oh, you mean a name, don't you? I don't think Aang told me what they're name was. Aang?" Aang appeared in front of Jin and Toph and said, "The group has gone by many names over the years: the Society, the Cabal, the Enclave… but there is one name that comes up constantly- the Order. At first, it was called the Council of Ten, after the generals who led the war, but was renamed the Order after the all the founding generals died." A loud grinding noise filled the train. Jin could feel the train slow, and with a lurch, it stopped. Toph stood up. "We're here," she said, as she made her way to the door. Jin followed and asked, "Okay, we're in Section 1. Now are you going to tell me what you wanted to show me?" As the two descended the platform stairs, she replied, "I want it to be a surprise for you, and if I tell you, then it wouldn't be a surprise." As they approached a large white wall, Toph said "We're here." Jin looked up at the wall. "This is you big surprise? A wall?" Toph shook her head. "No. It's what's behind the wall. _That's_ what I want to show you. Now come on." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the left. Soon, they came across a large gate made of metal, flanked by two guards. Above the gate was a large gold seal, depicting a winged boar. "That's our family symbol," Toph said. "The Bei Fong family has used it since before the first Toph was born." They continued toward the gate. The guards bowed as they approached; one said to Toph, "Good evening, Master Toph. Welcome home." She replied, "Good evening, captain." The gate began to slide up into the wall, but before they could proceed through, the captain stepped between Jin and the gate, saying, "I'm afraid I can't let you go through. No commoners are allowed inside without an invitation." Toph turned to face them and said, "He's with me, captain." The captain looked hard at Jin then stepped out of his way and said, "Okay, you can go." Jin caught up to Toph, and the two walked through the gate into a long tunnel. "Thanks," he said, "but couldn't you have told them I was the Avatar?" She replied, "I could have… but I don't think they would have believed me. The Avatar's been gone for three hundred years, remember? And they might not be too happy to see you considering what one of your past lives did." Jin looked at her. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"I'm not really the best person to ask about that. You should ask Avatar Aang. He'll know more." The two came to the end of the tunnel; suddenly, the wall at the end dropped, flooding the tunnel in light. Jin shielded his eyes briefly, then looked when the light faded. Outside the tunnel stretched a massive courtyard. Incredibly, various trees, bushes, and grass reose from the ground. At the three sides of the courtyard that Jin could see stood massive buildings of pure white stone. Standing behind the buildings was the wall they passed through. Hanging between the buildings and the walls were thousands of lanterns. Jin stepped out of the tunnel, observing everything. "Wow… this place is huge. Where are we?" Toph walked into the courtyard as well, and replied, "I told you already, we're in Section 1. But this… this is what I wanted to show you. This is the Palace. Home sweet home." Jin looked over at her, stunned. "You… you live here?" he stammered. She looked back at him, and smiled. "Of course. My family has lived here ever since Bei Fong was completed. The earthbenders my great-great-great grandmother and great-great-great uncle saved built this palace as a way of thanking them. They also built a shrine in the middle of the courtyard. I'll show you." She turned and began to walk toward the center of the courtyard. He began to follow, but suddenly, something began growling at him. He turned to see, but lost his footing and fell on his back. Then, Jin was face to face with an enormous badger-like creature- it had brown fur, with black and white stripes traveling down its back, and with massive claws. The beast leaned close to him, and sniffed; then, it licked his face. Toph approached and said, "Aw, he likes you." Jin quickly stood up and asked, "What is that thing?" Toph walked over to the beast and began to pet it. "This," she said, "is Stinky, my pet badgermole." She hugged Stinky's head and said softly, "Hey Stinky. I missed you. Have you been good while I was away?" Stinky replied with a soft sound. Toph let go of Stinky and said, "Now that you've met Stinky, let's go see that shrine." She began walking to the shrine again, Jin and Stinky followed. As they walked, Toph asked, "You're curious about Stinky, aren't you?" Jin looked around the courtyard and replied, "Actually, I'm more curious about how all these plants can grow down here without sunlight." Toph looked back at him, surprised. "That's what you're most interested in? It isn't that complicated. When they were still building the city, some people took plants from the surface. As the years passed, the plants began to adapt to the low lighting here."

"Oh. What were you saying about Stinky?"

"You probably don't know that badgermoles were the first earthbenders. My people learned how to earthbend by watching the badgermoles. In fact, the first Toph learned earthbending from the badgermoles themselves, just like my people's ancestors. Another thing is that badgermoles are blind, but can 'see' with earthbending."

"They see with earthbending? How does that work?"

"They feel vibrations in the ground, which lets them 'see' their surroundings. It's a technique that the first Toph learned from them as well. It's something she and the badgermoles had in common."

"…I don't follow."

"Well, you see… the first Toph was blind. But she learned that special technique from the badgermoles. Now, we call it the seismic sense."

"That's sounds pretty impressive. But what you said about badgermoles being the first earthbenders. Does that mean I'll be taking lessons from Master Stinky over here?" Stinky 'looked' over and made a confused sounding grunt. "You know," Toph replied, "that might not be such a bad idea. It could help if you learned form the original masters." The three stopped in front of the shrine. "We're here." She turned back to Stinky and said, "Sorry boy, but you have to wait out here. I'll be back soon." Stinky made a sad noise, but lay down on the ground outside the shrine. "Come on," Toph said, and dragged Jin inside with her. The shrine had no walls, revealing the courtyard surrounding it. The opposite side of the shrine opened to a large pond, invisible during the approach. Inside the shrine were two large stone sarcophagi sitting side by side. On both was inscribed a name- on the left, Lu; on the right, Toph. "Here we are," Toph said. "The Tomb of the Founders. The most important area in all of Bei Fong. In case you couldn't tell, this is where the founders of the city are buried- Toph's great-grandchild Toph and her brother Lu." Jin looked at the two sarcophagi. "So her name is Toph, too. You must have a very confusing family history." Toph looked at the slabs and replied, "Not really. All the Tophs in my family are numbered. For example, I'd be the fourteenth Toph. Anyway, every year, the city holds a huge memorial for them here in the palace courtyard. People come from all over the city to see it. Later in the day, they have another memorial in the Inner Ring. They have another shrine there- it's a huge wall, with the names of all the relatives of the city's first inhabitants that were killed in the war. There are over a hundred thousand names written on that wall." Jin noticed something on the ground between the sarcophagi; he approached, and saw something had been inscribed there. He bent down and read the inscription aloud, "To our great Founders, to whom we give this city, our gratitude… and our lives."

Toph bent down next to him and said, "My great-great grandmother said that when the shrine was finally completed." Jin stood up, and walked to the edge facing the pond. "It must be nice to live in a place like this," he said as he sat down at the edge. "After all, you have a city named after you, you're the heir to a powerful family, you probably have an army of servants who fulfill your every command..." Toph sat down next to Jin. "It is nice. I won't lie about that. I mean, I can go wherever I want in the city, and I'm the master in an earthbending school, but my family isn't powerful."

"Are you kidding me? Look around you! You live in a place like this, and you tell me your family isn't powerful?"

"Well, it isn't. At least… not anymore. You see, after the war, influential families that had ties to the benders fell from power. People as powerful as the Fire Lord and the Earth King, all the way down to my family. We have influence here in Bei Fong, but that's all. And it isn't always nice to live here. First, even though I can go anywhere I want, I'm never really alone." She pointed over to her left; at the edge of his vision, Jin could see a guard on top of the wall, watching them. "My parents have those guards following me everywhere. The only places they don't tail me are here and at the school."

"Oh… I just remembered that I left all my stuff at the school."

"I'll send one of the guards to get it for you. Anyway, second, and you can probably tell, I've never been to the surface." Jin looked at her, noticing for the first time that she was shockingly pale; if she hadn't told him otherwise, he would have been under the impression that she was seriously ill. "Third, since my parents don't really let me be on my own, I don't really have any friends. Well, there are the students at the school, but they aren't really friends. There is Stinky, but… well, look at him." They looked back at Stinky; he had rolled over and was rubbing his back against the ground, making a long, contented sound. Then, the light of the palace dimmed considerably. "It's late," Toph said. "I'll send a guard to get your stuff. I'll be right back."

She stood up and went away. "She reminds me of the Toph I knew," Aang said, and he appeared in the pond's reflection. "Their personalities are close. She even looks like the Toph I knew. But there are a few differences." Jin asked, "Like what?" Aang shifted as though in deep thought and replied, "For one, she's a little taller than the Toph I remember. Then again, Toph did get pretty tall as she got older. Second, her hair is a lot shorter. Of course, you'd never be able to tell with the Toph I knew, since she always kept her hair in this weird bun… thing. Third, and probably the biggest difference of all, this Toph can see. She already told you that the first Toph was blind, and it's true. But other than those three things, she's pretty close to the Toph I knew- she has the same face, the same build, the same everything. Let's just hope she has the same skill in earthbending."

Aang vanished, leaving Jin to stare at his reflection. Compared to Aang, he didn't think himself very impressive- his clothes, once dark green, were faded nearly to black and patched, making him look like a vagrant; his short black hair was starting to get long, and was filled with dirt from the day's training; he could read the heavy doubt that plagued his mind in his dark brown eyes; and though (he assumed) he had more muscle than the average twelve year old from working the farm, he had no experience in fighting. Just from his appearance, he didn't look like he'd be a very strong Avatar.

Toph returned and sat down next to him. "What'cha thinking about? You seem to staring awfully hard into that pond." Jin looked down and replied, "I was thinking about what you said when we first met. I think you might be right." She looked at him, confused. "Right about what?" Jin pulled his legs against his chest. "That I don't look like too much of an Avatar." She stared at him. "You're kidding me, right? I just said it because I was angry. I didn't mean it." Jin stood up. "But it's true. Look at me! Do you really think a guy like me is supposed to save the world?" Toph stood up, grabbed Jin's shoulders, and looked at him, hard. "Listen, I know you're under a lot of pressure, and I won't lie to you, you don't look like much, but you're the Avatar. You're the most powerful bender- no, the most powerful _person_ in the entire world. You can't think that you won't do a good job just because you think you aren't handsome enough. Things like that should be the least of your worries. The first thing you should be thinking about is learning earthbending." Jin's face reddened imperceptibly. She let go of his shoulders, and he sat back down. "You're right," Jin replied. "I need to focus on mastering the elements before New Year's Day. So I need to start as quickly as possible. When can we start training?" Toph sat down next to him again. "We'll start your training tomorrow. But don't worry. It's not going to be like today's lesson, I promise. But it's still not going to be easy." A guard approached, holding Jin's bag; he wordlessly gave the bag to Toph and left, leaving them alone again. She handed Jin the bag. "Here's your stuff," she said, but she held on to the sword. As she inspected it, she asked, "Why do you have a sword?" Jin quickly took it from her. "Please be careful with that. My dad used it when he used to be an adventurer." He drew the sword, and looked at his reflection in the blade. "I never learned how to use one, though."

"Well, it's probably a good thing you have that. From the stories I've heard it probably wouldn't be safe for you to bend on the surface." She stood up. "Come on. I'll show you your room." Jin looked up at her, confused. "My room? You mean I'll be staying here in the palace?" Toph replied, "Sure. Now come on." Jin sheathed his sword, stood up, and shouldered his pack. The two began walking out of the shrine, to the building on the right. They climbed the stairs to the entrance; at the top, Toph pushed open the enormous door. Within the building was a large foyer that branched off into dozens of hallways. "This building is where the guests stay. The building across the entrance is where I live. And the building on the gate side is where the guards and the other servants stay. All the buildings have their own… um…"

"Amenities?"

"Yeah, those. Bathhouses, dining halls, stuff like that." As they entered one particular hallway, Jin asked, "What's the other building for? The one across from this one?" She replied, "That's where the council of Bei Fong meets." They stopped in front of a large wooden door. "This is your room." Jin pushed the door open. Beyond was the largest room he had ever seen; it must have been at least half the size of the foyer. Jin entered the room, dropped his pack, and flopped down on the absolutely enormous bed. Toph walked into the room after him "These rooms are usually reserved for important guests only. The only people who use them are the council members, but since you're the Avatar, I figured you count as an important guest too." She sat down next to him. "You like it?" Jin merely said, "This has to be the biggest bed I've ever seen. Do people seriously sleep in this?" She replied, "Yeah. If you can believe it, my bed's even bigger than this one." Jin rolled onto his stomach and looked at her, "Really? You have to show me." She flopped down on the bed next to him. "I don't think my parents would like that."

"Why not?"

"My parents don't like it when I associate myself with commoners. They think they'll have a bad influence on me. I mean, I took a huge risk by letting you in here. If my parents found out you were in here… I'm not sure what they'd do. But I'm sure never letting me leave the palace ever again is part of it." She stood up. "I should probably go. You'll need to get some sleep if you want to be ready for training tomorrow. My parents are probably worried about me anyway. Good night." She left the room, closing the door behind her.

Later that night, as Jin laid by the edge of the bed, he said, "Aang? There's something I need to ask you." Aang's voice asked, "What is it, Jin?" Jin stared up at the ceiling and replied, "Aang, Toph said that the Avatar did something during the war three hundred years ago. What happened? What did he do?"

"I can't tell you that. Not yet. Not until you're ready to know. But it is part of the reason why I appeared, rather than your immediate predecessors. As I told you before, you're the sixth Avatar after me. That means there were five Avatars between you and I- two before the war, and three after. It's easy enough to explain the three after the war- they aren't in the cycle because they never knew they were the Avatar. The two from before are a little bit more… complicated.

"The Avatar after me, Avatar Han, was from the Water Tribe. He followed the advice that I and the other Avatars gave him, but he lacked vigilance and a strong will, and so the benders began using their abilities for their own ends. After Han died, the benders spiraled out of control. The Avatar's job is to maintain balance in the world, but many don't realize that this also includes keeping peace between benders and non-benders. For failing in this task, Han was forbidden from advising the next Avatar. While choosing the next Avatar, my predecessors and I hoped that by choosing an Avatar in a place isolated from the rest of the world, he would be untouched by the corruption. So we chose Kai, a sandbender. But despite our hopes, even they hadn't escaped the corruption, and Kai, unlike his predecessor, fell into the cycle of destruction like the other benders had. He failed to heed my warnings, and the warnings of the other Avatars. Finally, tensions between benders and non-benders reached a breaking point, and the war began. The benders are strong, but they were just as much at war with each other as with the non-benders. Their division made them weak. Then Kai… did something unforgivable. He survived the war, but due to his actions, when he died, he became the only Avatar to be expelled from the cycle."

"I see." Jin rolled on his side. "But it still doesn't tell me what happened three hundred years ago." Aang's voice then said, "I'll tell you eventually, when me and the other Avatars feel it's the right time."

"Alright. I guess I should go to sleep now. The first lesson is tomorrow after all." There was no reply from Aang. Jin closed his eyes, and soon fell into a very deep sleep.


	4. Chapter IV: Exile

Chapter IV: Exile

"…Hey… Jin… Jin… wake up… _Jin_… come on, Jin… wake up…" Jin grumbled and rolled over. "Jin, get up. You have to start your training." The voice came from somewhere close by. Jin opened his eyes slowly. His vision was extremely blurred; he blinked a few times to clear it. Toph lay only a short distance away from him, staring at him. She smiled and said to him, "Good morning, pupil." Jin panicked and tried to crawl away from her, but his arms failed to make contact with a solid surface and he tumbled off the bed. Toph peered down at him from the edge of the bed and said, "You're a pretty sound sleeper. I must've been laying there for at least ten minutes." Jin didn't respond to this, but asked, "When I wake up tomorrow morning, I'm not going to find you standing over with me with a knife, am I?" Toph hopped off the bed and said, "Come on, don't be like that! You should be excited! Today's your first day of real training after all." She pulled Jin up to his feet, then to the door. "Now come on. We'll head out to the courtyard." Jin stopped. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? You said yourself that you'd be in a lot of trouble if your parents found out I was here." Toph continued pulling him and replied, "My parents left this morning to meet with the governors. They won't be back for a few days. That'll give us plenty of time to start your training." Jin relented, and was quickly pulled out of the room.

Toph dragged Jin all the way out of the building. As they descended the steps down to the courtyard, they passed Stinky, who perked up and followed them. Finally, in front of the shrine, Toph let go of Jin. "Toph, I know I said I wanted to start right away," he said, "but you could have at least let me get my shoes on." She turned to him and replied, "You don't need shoes to earthbend." He stared at her, confused. Toph sighed, then said, "You see, in order to earthbend, you need a direct connection with the ground. If you wear shoes, then you don't have a direct connection, and you can't earthbend. At least not when you start out."

"Oh. So what am I going to be learning first?" Toph raised two boulders from the ground and said, "We'll be doing the same thing as last time- moving a rock. With any luck, this will go better than the first lesson." She lowered herself into an earthbending stance. "First, you need to get into a good stance. Your stance is the key to earthbending; rock is a stubborn element, so you need to be firm and solid- just like a rock. Then, you focus the energy in your body, extend it past your limbs, then…" She thrust her hand out at the boulder; with no contact, the boulder slid across the courtyard. "…earthbending. Now you try it." Jin stood in front the second boulder and lowered himself into an earthbending stance. He began to focus his energy, trying to extend it past his body. He thrust his hand at the boulder, just as Toph had; however, rather than sliding across the ground, the boulder merely rolled a few inches across the ground. "Well, at least something happened this time." Jin turned to her and said, "Don't patronize me." She replied defensively, "I'm not. But I know exactly what you did wrong- you didn't focus enough energy. Try again." Jin approached the boulder, lowered himself into his stance, and focused all the energy he could muster. He thrust out his hand again; the boulder didn't move, but instead, a small fissure opened in the ground behind it. "Well, that was… different. Your aim could use a little work, though." She then pushed him directly in front of the boulder. "Try it one last time." Jin did everything just as before. After focusing all his energy, he thrust out his arm at the boulder; the moment he made contact, the boulder slid across the ground. Jin stared at the boulder, stunned into silence. His mouth moved soundlessly, then he forced out: "Did… did… I…" He was unable to continue. Toph replied, "You did it. You really did it. But you still have a long way to go before you become a master earthbender. You should practice that a few more times."

A half hour later, Jin readied himself again; he stood at the edge of the courtyard- the boulder rested near the center. He focused his energy, then, just as before, thrust his hand at the boulder; without any delay, the boulder slid across the ground. "Your aim's definitely improved. And like I told you, distance doesn't matter in earthbending," Toph said as she sat on her boulder. Jin turned and asked, "Is this it? Surely there's more to earthbending than just shoving rocks around." Toph hopped down from the boulder and replied, "You're trying to trick me into going into the next lesson, aren't you. Well, I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's working. And you're right- there is more to earthbending than pushing rocks around. Now, you're going to learn how to make your own rocks." She got into her earthbending stance. "It works the same way as moving a rock, but instead of pushing it away from you, you're trying to pull it up from the ground. Like this." As before she lowered herself into her stance, but this time, raised one of her arms; in response, another boulder lifted out of the ground. Jin observed, lowered himself into his earthbending stance, then imitated Toph's movements. A boulder didn't rise out of the ground- instead, the ground Jin stood on rose up about a foot. "Good job, I guess," Toph said, "but I don't think you're ready to learn about earth columns just yet. It helps if you visualize what you're trying to do." Jin tried again, seeing himself raise the boulder in his mind. This time, a boulder rose up from the ground. Jin looked on, surprised. "Hey, that visualization thing worked!" Toph looked over, surprised. "Really?" She then quickly hid her surprise and said, "I mean, excellent work, Jin. Now, we're going to combine the first two techniques into one. Like this." She then raised a boulder from the ground and pushed it across the courtyard, combining the two motions for each into one fluid movement. Jin imitated, visualizing the process in his mind; he pulled a boulder from the ground, then pushed it across the courtyard as well. "Excellent work. You seem to understand the basics. Let's move on to something a little more difficult."

They continued for several more hours. Fissures, rock walls, earth columns… though the process was long, Jin eventually learned each one. He was surprised- though still difficult, he didn't think that earthbending would be as easy as he thought it would. For a brief instant, any doubts of being the Avatar were silenced. At the end, Jin sat down on the ground, exhausted. Toph sat down next to him and said, "I think that's enough for one day." Jin flopped on the ground and replied, "Thank goodness for that. You know, I'm surprised. Bending really takes a lot out of you." She lay down as well. "That's just something you get used to." Stinky walked over to them; Toph sat up as he approached. "Move over a little. Stinky likes to lay next to me." Jin sat up as well, and Stinky lay down behind him and Toph. She leaned against her pet, and let out a relaxed sigh. Jin hesitated. "Go ahead," she said. "He doesn't mind." Jin hesitated again, but leaned against Stinky. Almost immediately, he noticed that Stinky was much softer, and much warmer than he looked. A wave of drowsiness almost instantly washed over Jin. "Wow," he said, growing more and more sleepy with each passing moment. "Stinky is really… comfortable. I… could… just…" He fell silent. Toph looked over. "Just what?" Jin replied with a loud snore. "Oh… that. Well, I guess we should get some rest for tomorrow." She stretched, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep as well.

Jin woke up a few hours later. He stood up and stretched, saying, "That was a good nap." He looked around. "I wish I knew what time it was, though." Behind him, Toph yawned and said, "You're awake. I guess we should keep going with the lesson then." She stood up. "But we're going to do something different today." He looked back at her. "What do you mean by different?" She walked up to him. "Do you remember that seismic sense I mentioned two days ago? How the first Toph used it to see?"

"Yeah. Where are you going with this?"

"Well, I happen to know the seismic sense too. And I'm going to teach it to you." Jin looked on, surprised. "Really? But why?" Toph fell silent for a moment, and then answered, "Well… I guess it's because you're the Avatar. If you're really going to stop this… Order, you're going to need to learn all the bending techniques you can. Are you up to it?"

"Yeah, I'm up to it! Where should we start?"

"First, go get your sword. You'll need it." Jin went to the guest building and retrieved his sword. When he returned, Toph said, "Good. Now close your eyes." He did, but Toph then blurted out, "No wait! I have a better idea! Wait here." She ran off in the direction of the residence, leaving Jin standing alone next to Stinky. He looked at the badgermole and asked, "So… you're a badgermole, huh? How's that working out for you?" Stinky replied with a low grumble. "That's… interesting. I don't suppose you could give me any tips about learning this seismic sense thing, could you?" Stinky again replied with a low grumble. "Yeah, I didn't think so." At this, Stinky growled at Jin. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous about this." Toph returned, holding a sash. "Okay, I'm back. Now hold still." Toph quickly tied the sash around Jin's head, over his eyes. "Can you see anything?" Jin shook his head. "Good," Toph continued, "Then the blindfold's working. Now, the seismic sense works through vibration; you feel the vibrations in the ground, which let you 'see' your surroundings. It's kind of like seeing with your feet." She began to walk away from him "Okay… focus on the vibrations in the ground. Try to get a picture of the courtyard from them." Jin began concentrating on the vibrations in the ground- he felt a slight increase of awareness of his surroundings. "Are you getting a picture of everything?" Jin replied, "I think so." Toph said, "Good. Now I'm going to raise up some rock spires. You're going to feel the vibrations of them coming up, then attack them. Got it?" Jin nodded. "Okay. Go!"

Suddenly, rock spires began randomly rising out of the ground. Jin tried to feel their vibrations and attack, but every swing of the sword met only empty air. He concentrated harder, trying to feel the vibrations. He turned to attack a spire behind him, putting his foot out to brace himself; suddenly, as his foot connected with the ground, he could see everything around him- Toph, Stinky, the spires, the shrine… he could even feel people moving about inside one of the buildings. He 'saw' a strange point of light on the ground to his left; without thinking, he swung his sword at it. Mid-swing, a spire shot up from the ground, and his sword connected with it. Another point of light appeared behind him; he swung, destroying another spire. He swung at every light that appeared, and with each swing, a spire was destroyed. Then, the spires stopped appearing. Toph approached him, saying "Not bad, but let's see how you handle this!" She kicked a chunk of earth at him. He felt the vibrations, 'saw' the chunk leave the ground. He put out his free hand, and caught the rock. "Not bad. Not bad at all." She began walking toward him again, but froze. "Toph?" Jin asked, lifting his blindfold. "What is it?" She was looking over to the residence; he followed her gaze, and froze as well. As the foot of the stairs stood two people- a man and a woman, both extremely well dressed. Jin quickly jumped to the obvious conclusion- Toph's parents. The man began to walk toward them. Jin mumbled quickly to Toph, "You said your parents went away!" She mumbled in reply, "They did!" The man stopped in front of them. "Toph," he said, "come inside, now. We need to talk. You come too, boy." He turned and walked away. Toph put her head down and followed him; Jin followed as well. They crossed the courtyard, ascended the steps, and entered the residence.  


* * *

"Toph, explain to me why you brought this boy inside the palace walls." They were now in a large room. Jin and Toph stood in front of her parents, seated in two chairs at the opposite side of the room. "He's a new earthbending student," Toph replied. Her father then said, "Then why are you training him here rather than at the school!? Bringing commoners inside the palace walls is forbidden!"

"But he's the Avatar!"

"Oh really? Have you forgotten that it is because of the Avatar that we have to live underground like a pack of cowardly wolf-bats!? That he betrayed our people in the war three hundred years ago!?" A jolt of shock pulsed through Jin. _That's what happened?_ Jin thought to himself. _Avatar Kai betrayed the benders?_ Toph stepped forward. "But he's not the same person!"

"Regardless, you have still broken the two rules we had set for you. As of now, you are-"

"I never went to the surface!"

"Really? Then who brought this boy to the city? It's obvious he's not from here."

"It was Wei Shin! He brought him to me!"

"Wei Shin?" Toph's father rested his face in his hand. "Guards, please bring Wei Shin here." The two guards flanking the door in front of him left the room. "As I was saying, Toph, as of now you are no longer allowed to teach at the earthbending school. Also, you are no longer permitted to leave the palace unless you are accompanied either by me or your mother."

"What!? That's not fair!"

"Toph, you need to understand that-"

"No! Why do you have to always be overprotective!? I've never seen the surface! I can't go anywhere without being watched by the palace guards! I've never even had a real friend, because you won't let me have one!"

"Toph, all those things put you at risk, and we can't let you endanger yourself. Leave us. We wish to speak to Wei Shin and the Avatar alone." Toph turned and walked to the door. Her mother then said, "Please understand that we're doing all of this because we care about you." Jin heard her mumble, "Not like I've never heard that one before," before she left the room. A few minutes later, Wei Shin entered the room. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked. Toph's father asked, "Are you the one who brought this boy into our city?" He pointed to Jin. Wei Shin glanced briefly at him, then replied, "Yes. I did."

"And what made you think you had the right to bring him here?"

"I was ordered to."

"By who? This boy?"

"No. By Avatar Aang."

Toph's father fell silent for a few moments. "I see. But your duty to protect this city comes before any other obligations. As of now, you are stripped of your rank as governor and are under arrest. Guards, take him into custody." The guards walked to Wei Shin, seized his arms, and walked him out of the room. Toph's father then looked at Jin. "As for you… you are still an outsider, even if you are the Avatar. You are to leave the city immediately and never return. Once you have retrieved your things, a guard will escort you to the surface. Now go." Jin turned and left the room. As he left, he saw Toph standing by the doorway. Her bangs obscured her eyes, but Jin could still see lines of tears streaking down the rest of her face. He stopped and said to her, "I'm sorry, Toph." She didn't turn to him, but replied hoarsely, "I know. I'm sorry too."


	5. Chapter V: Outcasts

Chapter V: Outcasts

Jin walked out from the residence, his pack slung across his shoulders. A guard stood at the top of the steps, and said to Jin, "Master Bei Fong has ordered me to escort you to the surface. Please follow." He turned and descended the steps. Jin followed. It seemed that they were headed back to the residence, but the guard turned, and they went around to the left side of the building. He stopped in front of the wall, and with a motion, created an opening, revealing a tunnel beyond. "This tunnel goes all the way up to the surface," he said, and motioned for Jin to enter. Jin stepped into the tunnel; almost immediately, the wall slid closed behind them. Darkness engulfed the tunnel, but then a line of glowing crystals shone overhead. They traced along the ceiling of the tunnel before eventually disappearing. Jin then began to trudge through the tunnels, following the glowing path. He said out loud, "Why didn't you do anything?" Aang appeared next to Jin and asked, "What could I have done?"

"I don't know… couldn't you have convinced Toph's parents to let me stay? It worked on that other guy."

"What did you want me to do? Force them to let you stay?"

Jin sighed. For a few moments, he was silent, before he grudgingly asked, "So what's next?"

"Isn't it obvious? You need to master the next element, fire. So you need to find yourself a firebending teacher."

"If there are any firebenders, where would they be hiding?"

"I'm not sure. But they wouldn't go too far from the Fire Nation. Your best bet would be to search the western continent." There was a brief pause, then Aang said, "Well, I guess you know that terrible thing Kai did during the war now." Jin looked over, confused, "What? Oh! Right, I guess I do." Aang looked down. "It wouldn't do any good to withhold information now, so I'll tell you the truth. The entire truth.

"As you know, Kai fell into the cycle of destruction that had started under Avatar Han. And as you know, this cycle sparked a war between the benders and non-benders. Kai led the benders during the war, and under his leadership, they quickly eradicated any non-benders that stood before them. It seemed their victory was all but assured. But then, Kai was captured by the non-benders, and given an ultimatum: surrender the battle plans of the benders, or be executed. Choosing to save his own life, Kai willingly gave the non-benders the information they wanted, and when released, fled to parts unknown. The benders then suffered several staggering defeats, and without Kai's leadership, they quickly splintered into several warring factions intent on destroying each other just as much as the non-benders. These individual factions were weak; the non-benders quickly eradicated them, and nearly the entire bending population with them."

"Then when Avatar Kai died, he was forced out of the cycle, right?"

"That's not quite what happened. For betraying his people and failing to maintain the balance of the world, my predecessors and I revoked the Avatar spirit from Kai's body, taking his bending powers with it. Kai then became an ordinary human, and the next Avatar was chosen, becoming the first Avatar to be born before his predecessor had died. Few would forget Kai's betrayal, but one group actively hunted him after he disappeared, even after the war- an organization known as the Order of the White Lotus. The Order of the White Lotus was comprised of the world's greatest warriors, benders and non-benders alike, who devoted themselves to maintaining the balance of the world, much like the Avatar. But they also had other duties, one of which being, should it ever become necessary, the elimination of renegade Avatars. Over several years, they tracked Kai to a secluded villa on the west coast of the Earth Kingdom, and killed him as he slept."

Aang sighed. "Because Kai lost the Avatar Spirit before he died, he wasn't admitted into the Spirit World like the other Avatars. We're not sure what happened to him. But the Avatar cycle was able to continue, as we had hoped. We knew the Order had formed after the war, and we had always known their intent. But we never predicted they would come so close to succeeding so soon. We'd hoped that we would have more time, so resentment against benders would die down, but time ran out before we were ready. So we decided that I'd reveal the truth to you."

Jin looked over. "But why now? Why not sooner? Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure?"

"We didn't tell you until now because we didn't know how you'd react. But it wouldn't be safe to have a ten year old wandering the world, Avatar or not."

"And being twelve somehow makes everything better!? You should have told me sooner! Then I'd have had more time to learn the four elements! And on top of that, I have to learn about all the Avatar's powers!"

"I'll teach you about your powers when the time is right. And as for the four elements… you'll learn. As the Avatar, you're the only person who can. You know, our situations aren't that different. When I was your age, I had to master the four bending styles and learn about the Avatar's powers, and I only had a limited amount of time to do it as well."

"I know, I know. I've heard the stories. You had to master the four elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before Sozin's Comet arrived. But you already knew airbending. I'm starting from square one!"

"That doesn't matter. If you want to save everything you care about, then you have to do this."

"Alright, I guess. But if I'm going west, then I need to stop in a town to get supplies." The crystals overhead dimmed slightly, and the cavern brightened slightly. He came to a fork in the path; the glow had vanished, but the tunnel seemed brighter on the left path. He went left; as he walked, the tunnel brightened. Then, finally, he saw the end of the tunnel, and the surface beyond. Relief surged through Jin, and he ran toward the tunnels exit. Then, Jin was on the surface again. He flopped down on the ground, marveling at how soft the ground was, and took several deep breaths- the air seemed… cleaner, somehow. He looked around; he appeared to be on the edge of a forest, bathed in the soft orange light of the setting sun. Jin stood up again, resolved to get as far away from the cave as possible, and began walking.

Half an hour later, Jin had finally started a small campfire. Night fell unusually quickly, and though Jin set up camp in a clearing, no stars could be seen overhead. He was just about to toss a few sticks into the fire, when he suddenly felt as though something was watching him. He closed his eyes, and tried to feel the vibrations in the earth. A person was hiding in the trees behind him, just as he thought. Slowly, he bent down, then quickly tore up a piece of earth, and threw it at the person. The chunk of earth disappeared into the trees. Jin opened his eyes and waited. Everything was still, but then, the chunk of earth came flying back through the trees. He easily avoided the chunk; then, a person in a hooded black cloak stepped into the open. "You should know better than to bend in the open like that," the person said. Jin readied himself. "Who are you? Why are you following me?" The person continued forward. "You already forgot about me? I'm insulted." They pulled the cloak back; underneath was a familiar looking girl with short black hair and cold gray eyes. Jin relaxed slightly. "Toph?" he asked. "What are you doing out here? Why were you following me?" She walked over and sat in front of the fire. "You haven't finished training yet. And besides, I don't think it would be safe for you to travel alone." Jin sat down as well. "That's not all, is it?"

"No, it isn't. You saw the palace, you saw yourself how I live. I know my parents just want to protect me, but I'm practically a prisoner in my own home. I can't live like that forever. I'm not the helpless little girl that my parents think I am. I am Toph Bei Fong, heir of the Bei Fong family, fourteenth heir of the name Toph, and the strongest earthbender in the entire world. And no matter what my parents say, right now… you need my help." She looked over. "So, what's the plan?"

"The next thing I need to do is find a firebending teacher. Avatar Aang says I should head west, but before we do, we need to stop in a town and get supplies. And a map. But that can wait until tomorrow. Right now, we should get some sleep." Jin grabbed his pack, and pulled out his sleeping bag. He laid it out on the ground, but before climbing inside, he turned to Toph and asked, "Will you be okay? It doesn't look like you brought anything with you." Toph raised three short rock walls around her in the shape of a tent. She replied, "I'm sure I'll be fine," before raising one last wall. Jin climbed into his sleeping bag, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

Jin was awakened the next morning by the rising sun. He climbed out of his sleeping bag, knocked on the side of Toph's earth tent, and said, "Toph. Wake up. It's morning. We need to find a town." The walls of the tent sank into the ground; Toph stood up, rubbing her eye, and asked, "It's morning already?" She shielded her eyes. "Ow. What's that light?" Jin stared confused, then put his hand on her shoulder and said, "That's right, you've never seen the sun before, have you? Well, until your eyes adjust, don't look directly into the light. You'll hurt your eyes." He let go and turned away. "We have to go. We can't waste time like this." Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Unsure of what was happening, Toph and Jin readied themselves.

The ground in front of them blasted open. The thick dust clouds obscured Jin's vision; he focused on the vibrations in the ground to see what had come. It was very large, much larger than a person, but Jin couldn't help but feel the thing was somehow familiar. Through the dust cloud came a mournful sound. Toph dropped her stance and ran towards the sound; Jin called, "Hey! Wait!" before chasing after her. As he ran, a powerful gust blew away the clouds, revealing Toph hugging a large creature. Jin stopped; it was Toph's pet badgermole, Stinky. As she held the animal, Toph said, "Oh Stinky, did you follow me all the way from the palace." Stinky replied with a soft noise. Jin walked toward the two. "Stinky? What is he doing out here?" She looked back at him and replied, "He must've followed me from the palace."

"Well, tell him to go back."

Toph let go to fully face Jin. "Why?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but Stinky is a giant fluffy monster. And it's not like badgermoles are a common beast of burden anymore. We'd draw way too much attention if we brought him with us."

"What if we left him outside if we had to go into towns?"

"You're forgetting that we have to go west. We'll need a boat or an airship for that, and it's not like we can just sneak him onboard." Toph opened her to say something, but closed it and looked down as though in thought. "I hadn't thought about that," she said, before turning to Stinky and saying, "Sorry boy, but Jin's right. I can't take you with me." Stinky made a sad sound, and Toph replied, "I know. And I'm sorry. But you have to go back." She hugged Stinky's head. "I'll miss you." He made a soft noise in reply, turned, and climbed back into the hole, closing it once inside. Jin walked over to Toph. "Listen, it isn't anything personal. It's for his own safety. I don't know if they're true, but I've heard rumors that after the benders were wiped out people started hunting down the animals they learned bending from: dragons, sky bison… and badgermoles." After a long pause, Toph replied, "Okay." She began walking away. "We should go. I know New Year's is six months away, but the sooner we head to the western continent, the better."

"You're right. Just give me a moment to pack up everything." Jin walked to the burned out campfire, and began to carefully roll up his sleeping bag.

* * *

"You know, I just had a thought," Jin said as he and Toph walked through the woods. "If we're gonna be traveling, then we should make a few rules." Toph looked over and replied, "Sounds good. What have you come up with so far?"

"Okay, first rule is… no bending in the open. You said yourself it isn't safe. So if I need to train or anything like that, we'll find an isolated place. Second rule, we can't stay in any place for too long, especially towns. Traveling around like this is already a big risk, and it only increases if we stay in any one place for too long. So if we absolutely have to stay somewhere, it'll only be for a day. Maybe two, but that's kind of pushing it."

"What about isolated places? Does the rule apply there, too?"

"We can be a little bit more flexible with those. We can stay for a few days, possibly even a week if it's isolated enough, but after that we'll need to keep moving."

"Okay. I thought up a couple rules."

"Let's hear them."

"Third rule, no distractions. We need to focus only on getting where we need to go, and nothing else. If we let ourselves get sidetracked too much, before we know it it'll be New Year's and we won't be ready."

"That's a good rule. Did you think of any more?"

"Well, there was one more, but…"

"But what?"

"Now that I think about it, it's just repeating the second rule."

"Don't worry about stuff like that. Right now, we're just throwing out ideas. Once we finish brainstorming, then we can sort everything out."

"Okay. Rule number four: Once we get to wherever we need to go, and once we finish everything we need to do there, we leave. You have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it, and if we get caught up in other people's problems, then you'll have less time to prepare yourself."

"That's a good start for rules. And the last one's true. As much as I hate to admit it, we can't stop to help everyone. We need to focus on taking out the Order." The two finally came across a clearing; in the middle, a road stretched off in opposite directions. "Finally. We'll follow this road until we come across a town." Then, they stepped onto the road and began to follow its path.

After an hour of walking, Jin and Toph came across a small town. As they approached, Jin muttered to Toph, "Remember, we can't stay here for long. Let's just get what we need and go." She hissed back, "I know!" They walked down the main street, searching the stalls for anything promising. Jin spotted one manned by a bored-looking man and headed for it. When he and Toph stopped in front of the stall, the man perked up slightly and said, "Hey there. What do you need?" Jin pulled a pouch out of his pack and replied, "We need medical supplies and food for three days." The man walked away from the counter to the back of the stall, then returned with two bags, giving both to Jin. "That'll be thirty-five gold pieces." Jin reached into his pouch, pulled out the required gold pieces, and laid them on the counter. The man took the gold pieces, then Jin asked, "Can we get a map too?" The man disappeared under the counter and replied, "You sure can," before re-emerging with a medium-sized scroll and placing it on the counter. "The map's two silver pieces." Jin was about to hand over the silver pieces, when the man noticed something over to his left; he leaned over the counter to get a better view and said, "I wonder what's going on over there." Jin and Toph looked over; a large crowd had gathered some distance away. Jin set the silver pieces on the counter and picked up the map; then, he and Toph began walking toward the crowd. He held out the bags to her. "Hold these."

"Why do I have to hold them!?"

He took back one bag. "Fine. You carry the medicine, I'll carry the food." Toph then begrudgingly took the bag and slung it over her shoulder. The tow snaked their way into the crowd, trying to get a better view. They saw the crowd had gathered around two people. One, a well-dressed man holding a whip, said to his much grimier counterpart, "You'll do what I say when I tell you! Now… dance!" He cracked his whip threateningly. The other man simply replied, "No." The first man raised his whip. "Insolent!" The whip flew at the second man. Suddenly, the second man suddenly shot out his arm; a jet of flame burst from his fist, incinerating the whip. Toph gasped; Jin's eyes widened in shock. One thought entered his mind: _Firebender_. The firebender was then beset by three guards, weapons drawn. The second man said aloud, "You want me to dance? _Fine_." He suddenly turned with a sweep kick, sending out a wave of flame. Two guards avoided it, but the third took the full force of the wave and instantly crumpled. The firebender made several quick jabs, launching a fireball with each. The two remaining guards easily sliced through the fireballs and charged him. He sent out several more waves, but the two guards easily sliced through them. In moments, the guards had closed the distance and wrestled the firebender to the ground. They pinned his arms behind his back and pulled him to his feet; the well-dressed man said nothing, but merely shook his head, and the guards began to drag the firebender away. Toph stepped forward, but Jin immediately put his hand on his shoulder to stop her, and pulled her out of the crowd.

Jin pulled Toph until they were on the main street. She shook off his hand and said harshly, "What are you doing!? We have to help him!" He replied, "No. If we'd tried to help him, we would've just been arrested, too. Then who knows what would've happened to us. That's what'll happen if anyone finds out about us. And if they found out about me, then I'm sure the Order would find out too." He took her wrist and began pulling her away again. She relented, saying, "I guess you're right," and was pulled out of the town.

The two walked out of town, into the surrounding woods. They walked and walked, until they were sure they'd walked far enough. Jin sat down and unrolled the map on the ground. Toph sat down and looked over it as well. Jin studied the map, examining the multicolored nations that had been carved into the land at the war's end. "My dad had a map of the world from before the war," he said, "but no matter how much she asked him, he never told my mom where he got it. But it wouldn't really help- the world's a lot different from what it used to be." He then asked, "Do you have any idea where we are?" Toph pointed to a small symbol in a mountain range along the southern edge of the eastern continent. "Bei Fong was built under the ruins of the first Toph's hometown, Gaoling. And this symbol marks the ruins, so Bei Fong is somewhere around there. The escape tunnel goes under the mountains…" She drew a circle around the symbol. "…but I don't know which direction it went. We could be anywhere in this area." She pulled back from leaning over the map. "So now what?" Jin traced a line from the ruins to the ocean with his finger. "I guess we'll have to head west until we reach the ocean, then travel along the coast until we find a port." Toph flopped back onto the ground. "That sounds like a plan." A pause. "Where's west?"

"I have absolutely no idea. I guess we'll have to wait until the sun sets." He looked at the western continent on the map. "I remember in the stories my mom used to tell me, the whole western continent used to be united as a single country, the Fire Nation. But now, the mainland is two nations, and the islands are a third. How did this happen?" Toph pulled a piece of earth out of the ground and began twisting it into various shapes. "It happened because of what Avatar Kai did during the war, or what he and the Avatars after him didn't do after the war ended. Without benders, and without an Avatar to keep balance, the non-benders divided up the world into numerous nations, and the Four Nations ceased to exist. That's what happened, or at least that's the way it's been told in my family for the last three hundred years." Jin heard Toph take several deep breaths; he looked back at her and asked, "What are you doing?" She looked over and replied, "I just noticed this, but the air up here seems… fresher somehow." Jin noticed the piece of earth she had. "Put that away. Someone might see."

"Why are you worried?" Toph sank the piece back into the ground anyway.

"Didn't you see what happened to that guy in town? I don't want the same thing to happen to us. I've heard rumors about what happens to benders if people find them."

"You seem to hear a lot of rumors."

"That's not the point. Anyway, when they find benders, they don't execute them. No. They use benders for labor. They force earthbenders to flatten land for farming- a single earthbender could be forced to flatten dozens of miles in a single day. Waterbenders are forced to bring water up from underground springs in cities that are far from natural water sources. I haven't heard what they do to firebenders and airbenders, though." The two sat in silence for a while, then Jin moved his pack in front of him and began searching around inside. Toph looked over and asked, "What are you doing?" Jin pulled a piece of paper, a brush, a small bowl, and a black stone from his pack and laid each item on the ground before replying, "I'm going to write a letter to my mom. I left home to master the four elements, but I didn't tell her I'm the Avatar. She thinks I'm on a journey to find myself. I'm not going to tell her I'm the Avatar yet- I'm just going to let her know I'm okay."

He broke off a piece of the stone, put it in the bowl, and began to crush it with the handle of the brush. "Now that I think about it, your parents probably know you're gone by now, don't they?" He took a water skin from his bag and poured a small amount of water into the bowl. "Do you think they're looking for you?"

"Yeah, but they're probably still searching the city. Bei Fong is a big place, and it's not like I haven't run away before."

Jin picked up a stick from the ground and stirred the water in the bowl. "But what'll happen once they find out you left the city?"

"I'm not sure. I've never left the city before. They'll probably send the palace guards to the surface to look for me."

Jin dipped the tip of the brush into the ink. "So we have all the more reason to head west as soon as possible." He thought for a moment, then wrote on the paper:

_Dear Mom,_

_ I wrote this to let you know I'm doing okay. I've been wandering between towns for the last few days, but I decided I'm going to see the world. I'm heading to the west continent in a few days. I think I'll stay there for a few weeks, then head off to somewhere else. I know you miss me, but I'm safe, and I'm sure that you'd be relieved to hear that._

He signed "_Your son, Jin_," and rolled up the letter. "What're you gonna do with the letter?" Toph asked. "It's not like you can send it now." He put the letter in his pack. "I'll hold onto it until we reach a port. I'll mail it just before we leave." He looked up to the sky; the sun, formerly directly overhead, had sunk halfway to the horizon. He stood up and shouldered his pack. "The sun's starting to set. We should get as much traveling done as possible before nightfall." Toph got up, shouldered the bag of medical supplies as well, and the two set out.

Three hours passed, and the sun sank ever closer to the horizon. Jin shielded his eyes to check the sun's position; it floated only just above the horizon. He dropped his pack and said, "It's almost sunset. We should stop here for the night." He pulled the map out of his pack and unrolled it on the ground. Toph dropped her bag as well and asked, "How many times are you going to look at that thing?" but sat in front of the map across from him anyway. "I'm trying to figure out where firebenders would be. Do you have any suggestions?" Toph shrugged and replied, "I have no idea. I don't know anything about the surface, remember?"

"Right. Aang, do you have any ideas?" Aang appeared at the edge of the map to Jin's right. "Some benders hide in plain sight, amongst the normal population. But most hide in secluded locations, away from non-benders. There are plenty of islands in the former Fire Nation that are supposedly uninhabited. You should start there." Aang disappeared. Jin pointed to the chain of islands to the west of the continent, and read the name written across them. "The kingdom of Shu. Looks like a good place to start. We'll head there once we find a port." He rolled up the map, and exchanged it for his sleeping bag. "But in the meantime, we should get some rest."

"Why? There's still daylight." She looked over at the sun, shielding her eyes from the unfamiliar light. Jin unrolled the sleeping bag on the ground. "That light isn't going to last very long. Help me get some wood for a fire." He and Toph gathered several sticks, and lit their campfire. For some time, the two sat in silence, staring at the flames. Jin glanced at Toph, but quickly looked away when she looked back. "What is it?" she asked. He replied, "It's nothing." She moved closer to him. "I can tell something's bothering you. What is it?" He turned away. "It's nothing. Really." She moved away from him. "Okay. If you say so." Her tone made it perfectly clear she wasn't convinced. Jin climbed into his sleeping bag, and said, "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to get some sleep. Toph moved back to the other side of the fire and began raising an earth tent. Before finishing, she asked, "Why don't you make your own earth tent?" He looked over at her and replied, "I'm sure I'll be fine." Toph wordlessly finished her earth tent. Jin made himself comfortable, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Suddenly, Jin found himself walking down a dirt road in a vast field. The field gently rolled with its numerous hills, and was a vibrant shade of green; the sky above was a perfect, cloudless blue. But as he walked down the road, the sky began to rapidly darken as it filled with clouds, and the field became a colorless gray. Then, it began snowing. At first, the snowfall was light, but rapidly obscured the ground, but then, strong winds began to blow. Jin shivered, and tried to warm himself, but continued onward. The blizzard only grew worse, and soon everything was obscured by the falling snow. He fell to his knees, trying desperately to keep himself warm. Then, Jin saw a shadow approaching him through the blizzard. As it approached, more details became visible- it was a large creature that looked like a badger, with brown fur and black and white stripes traveling down its back. Stinky. He trudged over to Jin and licked his face; Jin was immensely grateful for the warmth it provided. Stinky raised an earth tent around them; inexplicably, there was fire already inside, but Jin didn't care as Stinky nestled behind Jin. He leaned against the badgermole's soft fur, basking in its warmth, and soon fell into a very deep sleep.

* * *

Late in the night, Toph was awoken by strange noises coming from outside. She focused, feeling the vibrations in the ground. Other than Jin, their camp was empty. She lowered a wall and peered outside; almost instantly, she was hit with a shock of cold air. The fire had gone out, and Jin had curled up in his sleeping bag, but there was no sign of whatever was making the sound. She lowered the rest of her earth tent back into the ground and approached the burned-out campfire, noticing that the sounds grew louder as she approached. Only when she stopped in front of the ash pile did she notice that Jin was shuddering violently. She bent down and touched his face, then immediately withdrew it; it was freezing. Out of pity, she raised an earth tent around them, and laid down next to him, pressing her back against his own for warmth. Gradually, Jin stopped shivering, and slept peacefully. Toph settled herself, and soon fell asleep as well.

The next morning, Jin grumbled and opened his eyes. Almost immediately, he noticed it was extremely dark. Then, he noticed something very warm touching his back. He pulled away and looked over, and immediately clapped his hands over his mouth to stifle his gasp. Toph was sleeping right next to him. She stirred slightly, but did not awaken. Jin calmed his breathing, then, as quietly as possible, climbed out of his sleeping bag, rolled it up, opened a wall of the earth tent, and snuck outside. He walked to his pack and began putting his sleeping bag inside, when a voice behind him said, "Well you're up early, Jin. Sleep well?" He tensed for a moment, then replied, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, Toph. But tell me, what was I doing in your earth tent?" She sat down next to him. "I told you last night you should make your own earth tent, but you didn't listen. You woke me up with your shivering, so I felt sorry for you and let you sleep in my tent." Jin shoved his sleeping bag into his pack, and pulled out the map again. As he inspected it, Toph asked, "You're looking at that thing again? We already know what we're doing."

"I just want to make sure we know exactly where we're going." Jin continued to study the map, then pointed to an island near the end of the chain. "The closest port is here, on this place called Ember Island. We'll head there and start our search." He put the map away and stood up. He scanned the sky for the sun, then pointed in the opposite direction of it. "West is that way. Let's get moving." Toph shouldered her bag as well, and the two set out again.


	6. Chapter VI: Search

Chapter VI: Search

Four days passed. Jin and Toph crossed through forests and plains, but still didn't reach the ocean. They encountered few travelers, but Toph didn't dare to train Jin until she was sure they were safe. On the fourth day, Jin and Toph were traveling through a thick forest; Jin walked with his eyes closed, trying to feel the vibrations in the earth. "It no good," he said, opening his eyes. "I can't see far enough with the seismic sense. Why don't you try?" Toph closed her eyes and focused. "I can't see anything either. Wait." She stopped walking, and pressed her palm against the ground. "Up ahead, the ground just… stops. It reminds me of the ravines in the caves around Bei Fong, but I can't see the other side or the bottom." Jin replied, "Sounds like we're by a cliff. Maybe we're close to the ocean." They continued walking. The trees gradually began to thin out as they walked, then they stopped. Only a few feet before them, the ground dropped straight down, and beyond stretched a great expanse of blue; the expanse rippled, and sunlight glinted off of its surface. The ocean. The sky and the ocean stretched onward, meeting on the horizon in a thick white haze. As Jin and Toph stared out over the ocean, he said, "We made it." Toph sat down. "When I was little, my parents used to tell me stories about the surface. One of my favorites was the one about the ocean. They said it was like a giant lake that covered the whole world, and separated the continents. But I never thought it would be so big." She looked over. "What should we do now?" Jin sat down as well. "The way I see it, we have two options: we can either travel along the north coast, or we can travel along the south coast. Unless of course, you'd prefer to swim."

"We can rule that third one out. I can't swim."

Jin looked over. "Really? Remind me later that I'll have to teach you." He pulled out the map and inspected it. "Anyway, it looks like we're here," He pointed to a peninsula on the southwest of the eastern continent, "near the southern tip. Look like we're heading north." He put away the map. "Shall we get going?" Toph stood up. "I guess so." Jin stood up too, and they began walking along the cliff.

Another three days passed as they traveled along the coast. Jin grew to master the seismic sense, being the only technique he could practice safely. He regretted that he couldn't do more, but assured himself that he could practice earthbending to his heart's content once they reached the firebenders's sanctum. On the fourth day, they finally reached a port. Numerous ships were docked along the piers, and innumerable people walked amongst the stalls and piers, but far more impressive were the massive airships anchored in the skies above the port. "Wow," Toph said as they looked upon the port, then pointed to one of the airships. "We have to get a ride on one of those." Jin began to walk toward the port. "Let's just focus on finding a ship that goes to Ember Island. We should look for a sign that says where all the ships are going. There're a lot of people, so we'll need to stick together." He held out his hand; Toph took it, and they walked down to the port.

"No way." Jin and Toph were looking at a large board, with the word "Departures" written on top; underneath cascaded the names of the numerous destinations of the ships docked at the port. Jin looked at one group of destinations in particular- all were marked Ember Island. Each had a date written next to the name, as well as two prices: one for an airship, and one for a normal ship. The prices for a ship leaving that day were, respectively, six hundred and four hundred gold pieces. Jin pulled out his money pouch, and counted up his gold pieces- four hundred thirty-seven. "That's not good," he said. "We don't have enough money for the both of us. Not even for the boat. But what about this one?" He pointed to a line a few places under the first. "This one's only seventy-five gold pieces per ticket. And that's for an airship." Toph looked at the date, then replied, "But that one leaves in three days. We can't wait that long. Rule number two, remember?" Jin read the board one last time, before pointing to another line. "Well, this is the last one that leaves today. It goes somewhere called Merchant's Pier, and then it goes to Ember Island. It's only a regular boat, but at least we can afford tickets for both of us." They then walked to a stall next to the board, where a woman sat with a bored expression. "Huh? Oh, how can I help you?" She said as they approached. Jin pulled out his money pouch and replied, "Two tickets for Merchant's Pier and Ember Island please." The woman held out her hand. "I'll need to see your passports."

"It doesn't say we need passports." The woman withdrew her hand. "No passports, no tickets. Please leave." Toph pushed her way past Jin, saying "Let me handle this." She then looked at the woman and said, in a sweet voice not unlike the one she used in Jin's first earthbending "lesson," "Excuse me, miss, but we need those tickets to get to Ember Island. Pleeeease?" Toph clasped her hands and made a wide smile. The woman said flatly, "Like I told your friend, no passport, no tickets." Then, the smile rapidly faded off of Toph's face. She sniffed, then said sadly, "But you don't understand. We're refugees that lost everything. We have some relatives on Ember Island, but this is the only way we can get there. Can't you please make an exception?" Toph then made the saddest, most pitiful frown Jin had ever seen. The woman almost immediately crumbled, pulled out two tickets, and said, "That's four hundred gold pieces." Toph took Jin's money pouch, dumped out its contents, and separated the four hundred gold pieces, putting everything else back in the pouch. The woman collected the gold, stamped both tickets, and handed them to Toph. She took them and said, "Thank you," before walking away. Jin caught up to her, seeing a very evil smile spread across her face. As she handed him his ticket, Jin said, "I never expected that you'd be such a convincing actor." She replied, "Well, I've had plenty of practice. When I was little I used to do that to my parents to make them buy me things I wanted. It stopped working when I was around ten, though." He looked over at her and asked, "You aren't planning to use that on me, are you?" Then, he and Toph laughed as they walked away from the stall.

As Jin and Toph made their way through the port to the docks, Jin stopped and said, "Hold on. I almost forgot something." He then began to wander though the buildings, As Toph followed, she asked, "What is it?" He pulled out the letter from his pack. "I almost forgot that I need to send this to my mom. Do you see anything that looks like a post office?" They searched the buildings, then finally came to one with a decently sized wooden tower outside. The tower was dotted with holes, in which nested messenger hawks. Jin entered the building and placed the letter on the counter inside. He said to a man standing behind the counter, "I need this letter delivered." The man took the letter and asked, "Where to? For five silver pieces we'll fly it to any point on the globe." Jin dropped the silver pieces on the counter. "I need it delivered to my mother, Lin. She lives on a farm outside Gashuin, a village to the southwest of here." The man walked out from behind the counter, toward the entrance, and Jin followed; outside, he took a messenger hawk from the roost, dropped the letter into a canister on its back, and said to the bird, "Take this to Lin in Gashuin." The bird spread its wings and flew into the air; as Jin watched it fly away, Toph approached and said, "Okay, you sent your letter. Is there anything else you need to do, or can we go now?" He looked over. "No. There's nothing left for us here. Let's go." They resumed their path toward the docks.

A few minutes later, they reached the docks. They wandered past the massive ships, looking for any sort of clue that would point them in the right direction. Jin noticed that by the ramp that led to the deck of each ship was posted a sign that declared its destination. He headed over to the one headed to Merchant's Pier and Ember Island. A person, presumably a crew member, stood by the ramp; as they approached it, the sailor stopped them and said, "I'll need to see your tickets before I can let you onboard." Jin and Toph gave him their tickets; he glanced over them, then gave them back and said, "Alright, everything checks out. But before I let you onboard, I'll need to take your sword." Jin gripped the sword's sheath. "Why?" The sailor held out his hand. "Weapons are not permitted in the passenger cabins. Once you reach your destination, your sword will be returned." Jin grudgingly removed the sword from his back and handed it to the sailor; the sailor then said "Follow me," and led them up the ramp. They stepped up onto the deck, climbed down a flight of stairs, entered the ship's interior, snaked through several interior corridors, then stopped in front of a hatch. "Your cabin." The sailor then opened the door, and allowed them inside. The interior of the cabin was cramped and sparsely furnished; the sole items of furniture were two cots that nearly filled the entire room, and were so close together they nearly touched. On the other side of the cabin was a small round window, showing the dock outside. The sailor then said, "I must be going. Please excuse me," then closed the hatch.

Toph dropped the bag of medical supplies and flopped down on one of the cots. She let out a relaxed sigh and said, "Finally, a nice place to relax. My feet are killing me." Jin took off his pack and sat down on the other cot. "Yeah. It'll be nice to sleep in an actual bed for once, if only for a few days." Toph pulled up her legs and began to massage her feet. "How long do you think it'll take to reach Ember Island?" Jin reached down to his pack, pulled out the map, and studied it. "Well, Merchant's Pier is to the north of this port, and Ember Island is to the west of there. My guess is that'll take about a week for us to get there." Suddenly, the room lurched, and through the window, the entire dock began to move. As he looked out the window, Jin said "I guess we're heading out now." Toph looked out the window as well and said. "A week, huh? I think I can handle that."

* * *

"Ugh! This is so boring!" Jin looked over at Toph, who was stretched out on her cot. He put his pack on the floor and said, "Toph, you need to calm down. It's only been two days." She sat up to look out the window. "I know. But we're on kind of a tight schedule."

"I only left home two weeks ago, and not only have I found an earthbending teacher, I'm already heading out to find a firebending teacher. If you ask me, we're way ahead of schedule."

"But you're still a long way from being a master earthbender. You've barely even started with the basics. And you haven't had any time to practice what I've taught you. Once we find a firebending teacher, not only do you have to learn firebending, but you have a lot of catching up to do in earthbending, too. You're going to be busy for a while."

"I hadn't thought about that. I guess we're not as ahead of schedule as I thought." Just then, the ship lurched on the starboard side. Jin and Toph braced themselves, and once the ship leveled out, Toph said, "You know, I'm really starting to get sick of that." She stood up. "I'm going to up to the main deck. I'm tired of looking at this room." As she opened the hatch, Jin stood up as well and said, "I'll go with you. I could use a breath of fresh air myself." They stepped out of the cabin and began walking to the staircase through the halls. As they walked, the ship lurched again, knocking them off balance. Toph nearly fell, but Jin caught her. She gave a mumbled thank you before they proceeded onward.

Minutes later, the two stood on the deck, looking out over the ocean. On the starboard side, the shore of the eastern continent stretched on forever to the north and south; on the port side, all that could be seen was the shining blue ocean. As she stared over the starboard side, Toph asked, "How long is this going to take? It feels like we've been on this boat forever." Jin, leaning against the railing at the deck's edge watch the other passengers, replied, "I wish I knew. I don't recognize any of this coastline from the map, so I can't even make a guess. I guess the only way we'll really know is when we reach Merchant's Pier." He stood up. "I'm going to head back to our cabin." Toph didn't look over, but replied, "Okay. See you in a few minutes, Jin." Jin crossed the deck, descended the stairs to the interior of the ship, and snaked through the halls back to the cabin. He climbed inside, and once he closed the door behind him, said aloud, "Aang, I need to talk to you." He turned and saw Aang sitting on Toph's cot. "What do you need, Jin?" He sat down on his own cot. "Aang, we're not going to find the firebenders for a few days, and I can't practice earthbending here. So in the meantime, I was hoping I could learn a few things."

"What do need to learn about?"

"I don't know, the Order, the Avatar… anything that'll help me somehow."

"Fair enough. I suppose I should start with the most important thing… you. Or, to be more specific, the Avatar Spirit. As you probably already know, the Avatar is the only bender who can master all four elements, and that the Avatar's responsibility is to maintain the balance of the world. But the Avatar also has other responsibilities. But before I tell you anything else, let me ask you something: do you believe in spirits?"

"I guess so. I mean, I've never actually seen one, but I've heard a lot of stories about them."

"Alright. Well, one of the Avatar's responsibilities is to maintain balance, not only in this world, but between this world and the world where spirits reside. The Avatar acts as a bridge between the normal world and the Spirit World."

"Why are you telling me about this? Do you think the spirits will help me?"

"They might. They have helped me in the past. But more importantly, the Spirit World is also where all the previous Avatars reside, with the exception of Kai, of course. If you ever need guidance, you can summon the spirit of any past Avatar to advise you."

"Aang, you just said that the spirits of the past Avatars reside in the Spirit World. What are you doing here?"

"Technically, I still am in the Spirit World, at least partially. I can project a part of my spirit into the mortal world, but not all of it. However, there is one way that I and the other Avatar spirits can enter your world."

"Really? How?"

"You'll know eventually. But in the meantime, you should focus on the task at hand- finding a firebending teacher."

"Okay. But I don't have any idea where they might be. The western continent is made up of dozens of islands, and over half are uninhabited. The firebenders could be hiding out on any one of them."

Aang thought for a few moments. "Let me see your map. I might be able to help." Jin pulled the map from his pack and unrolled it on the cot. Aang looked over it, then pointed to a small island to the southwest of Ember Island. "My guess is that they'd hide somewhere of sentimental value to firebenders. This would be a good place to start." Jin looked at the name of the island. "Roku's Island. Roku… I know that name. Wasn't he one of the Avatars?"

"Avatar Roku was the Avatar before me. He guided me on my mission, just like how I'm guiding you now. Anyway, there are two other places where they might be hiding." Aang pointed to an island at the eastern end of the archipelago. "The first is here, Crescent Island. There used to be a temple here with a shrine to Avatar Roku, but it's been abandoned ever since the temple was destroyed. The other is here." Aang then pointed to a patch of ocean to the north of the main western continent. Jin looked on, confused. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there."

"Actually, there is. There's a small island here, but it's not marked on your map. On the island are ruins of an ancient city, still inhabited by a civilization known as the Sun Warriors. Or at least it was when I was alive. I can't say if the Sun Warriors are still alive, but even if they aren't, the island is secluded enough that firebenders would be able to hide there without being discovered. Possibly for centuries." Aang took his hand away from the map. "But you should save the Sun Warrior city as a last resort. Focus on searching Roku's Island and Crescent Island first." Aang disappeared; at that moment, there was a slight grinding sound as the hatch to the cabin opened. Toph stepped inside and sat down on her cot. "Hey Jin." Jin looked over. "Toph, I just talked to Avatar Aang."

"Really? What did you talk about?"

"He took a few guesses at where the firebenders might be hiding."

She looked over. "And?"

"Well, we have two options once we reach Ember Island. There's Roku's Island to the southwest, and Crescent Island to the east. Which one should we check out first?"

"Which one's closer?"

Jin pulled out the map again and examined it. "Uh… it looks like Roku's Island is the closest."

Toph flopped back on her cot. "There you go. We'll check out Roku's Island first."

* * *

Two days later, the ship landed in Merchant's Pier, then departed without incident. It would take another five days before the ship finally sighted Ember Island. As Jin and Toph stood on the deck, watching the small landmass grow ever larger, they both breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't believe we're almost there," Jin said. Toph looked over and replied, "I know. How long has it been? Nine days? All I know is I'll be glad to be on solid ground again." But it would be several more hours before the ship docked and Toph's wish would be granted.

When the ship finally docked at sunset, Toph immediately flew down the ramp and flopped onto the ground on her back. Jin, more collected, climbed down the ramp as well, and once his sword was returned, walked over and asked, "What are you doing?" She rolled over and replied, "What does it look like? I'm enjoying this solid ground." Jin turned away. "O…kay. Just… let me know when you're done." Toph stood up and dusted herself off. "Okay, I'm done appreciating the ground. Now what?"

"Well, we're not going to be traveling very far now that the sun's setting. We should probably find an inn and stay there for the night."

"But what about rule number two?"

"We'll only be staying for the night. Once it's morning, we'll head out."


	7. Chapter VII: The Balloon

Chapter VII: The Balloon

The next morning, the two walked down a path that snaked along the coastline, heading away from the port. Jin looked over the map again; Toph asked, "Why are you always looking at that stupid map?" Jin rolled up the map and slipped it into his pack. "I'm trying to figure out how we're going to get to Roku's Island. There aren't any routes that go there. Should we try to find a ferry? No, that would be too suspicious. We could rent our own boat… but who knows how long it would take to reach the island." He sighed. "I just can't think of any way to…" He trailed off, staring into the distance. Toph followed his gaze, and stared in shock too. They stared at a sign that stated "Huang's Hot Air Balloon Tours." Jin blurted, "That's it! We'll take a hot air balloon!" Toph looked at the sign, then at him. "You can't be serious. What, are we going to steal one of the balloons?" He began walking toward the sign. "No, but I have a better idea. Come on!" Toph followed.

A few minutes later, they stood in a large clearing, surrounded by several deflated hot air balloons. Then, an excited but disheveled man slid in front of them and said excitedly, "Hi! Welcome to Huang's Hot Air Balloon Tours! I'm Chin! Are you prepared to see wonders only dreamed of by men at two thousand feet?" Jin, unfazed, replied, "Actually, I was interested in seeing if you had any job openings." Chin raised an eyebrow, confused. "Huh? You guys look a little young to be looking for jobs." He then scratched his head. "But then again, Mister Huang's never here, and the place is seriously undermanned, so I guess I could give you guys jobs. But if anyone asks, you're both fifteen. Okay?" Jin and Toph nodded. "Okay," Chin continued, "before I hire you two, I need to ask a very important question." He then said in a very carefully measured voice, as if reciting from memory, "Do either of you have experience in the operation and or maintenance of a hot air balloon?" Jin and Toph stared back blankly. "Well that's okay. Actually, that's perfect! I'll show you just how easy it is to fly one of these. Just give me a moment to fire up one of the balloons."

A few minutes later, the three stood in the basket of one of the hot air balloons. The balloon had been fully inflated, but several ropes tied to posts hammered in the ground prevented it from floating away. "Okay," Chin said. "Just a quick breakdown of the terms for a balloon. The thing we're standing in is called the basket. That thing above us full of hot air is called the envelope and this thing…" he pointed to a large furnace-like device in the center of the basket. "…is the burner. It makes the hot air. I think that covers basic terminology. Now, to operation." He walked to a rope hanging from the envelope. "This rope controls the vent. The vent lets hot air out of the balloon, so you can land and so you don't fly too high." Chin then walked to the rear of the basket to another pair of ropes. "These two ropes control the rudder so you can steer the balloon." He then grabbed a lever under the two ropes. "And this lever controls the propeller." He signaled for Jin and Toph to come over- they did, and all three looked over the edge of the basket. Poking out from under the basket was a decently sized propeller. "That propeller pushes the balloon. It's powered by the burner. Speaking of which…" He turned back to the burner and opened a small door on the side; within burned a large wooden block. "That block in there is a special kind of slow-burning wood. It makes plenty of hot air, so it's perfect for fuel. It usually lasts a few trips around the island, but you have to remember to replace it once you land here." He closed the burner door. "That covers everything. I guess the only thing to do now is take a test flight. Hang on." Chin hopped out of the balloon and began untying the ropes. Soon all the ropes were untied, and the balloon began to rise, but before getting to high, he hopped back into the basket. "Okay. You…" He pointed to Toph. "…man the vent. And you…" He pointed to Jin. "…take the rudder. I'll handle the propeller." The three took their respective positions. When Jin took the rudder's ropes, Chin said to him, "Hey guy, remember that you're facing the wrong way. If I tell you to go in one direction, pull the opposite rope. Got it?" Jin nodded. The balloon continued to rise: once it reached a certain height, Chin pulled the lever. The balloon lurched slightly, and began to lazily drift forward. The balloon continued to rise. Chin said to Jin, "We're going left. Pull." Jin pulled, remembering to pull the right rope rather than the left; in reply, the balloon turned to the left. After a few minutes, Chin called, "Okay, we're high enough! Pull the rope, vent person!" Toph pulled, and the balloon began to descend. After descending enough, Toph let go of the rope. Chin smiled and said, "You guys look like you're getting the hang of this. Let's see if you can fly the balloon around the island."

An hour passed as the balloon circled the island. Halfway through, Jin and Toph traded jobs, but continued their tasks admirably. Finally, the balloon landed at the clearing. Chin hopped out and rapidly tied the ropes hanging from the basket back onto the posts. "Well I'm impressed," he said, as he tied the last rope. "You guys did a great job. Consider yourselves hired. You'll officially start working tomorrow. So, uh… see you then." Chin wandered off. Jin and Toph climbed out of the basket. "Okay, so we're hired. Now what?" Toph asked. Jin looked back at the balloon and replied, "I thought up a plan for us to get this balloon." She asked again, "So what is it?"

Jin told her.

Toph stared back, shocked. "You can't seriously think that'll work, do you?"

"Well, for both our sakes, you better hope it does. Now we have the rest of the day off, so we'll use that time to get what we need." He pulled out two small pouches and gave them to Toph. "Take these pouches and fill them up with the heaviest rocks you can find. I'll go look for some spare fabric and anything sufficiently… person-shaped."

Much later, when night had fallen, and Chin had left the clearing, Jin was pulling two large logs into the basket of a balloon. Toph approached, and said, "Okay, I filled up the pouches." She handed them to Jin, who tested their weight, pocketed them, and replied, "Good. These will work fine." He then said, "These logs are the right size, and they'll look just like people once we wrap them up with this." He reached down to pick up a roll of fabric and showed it to Toph. "Now help me wrap them up." Jin unrolled a length of fabric, cut it from the rest of the roll with his sword, and gave the rest of the roll to Toph before winding the fabric around the first log; Toph did the same to the other log. Once finished, the two inspected their work; though from up close it was obvious the logs were precisely that, from a distance it was likely (or so Jin hoped) that they would be mistaken for two people. As Jin laid the two logs down on the basket floor, Toph asked, "You can't really think this is going to work, do you?" Jin, staring down at the two logs, replied, "For both our sakes, I really hope it does."

* * *

Morning came, and the two had been waiting around their balloon when Chin returned. "Hey guys," he said. "Welcome to your first day of work. Even though Mister Huang isn't here, we still have to watch the place. But since it's summer, most people'll be at the beach, so hopefully we won't have to do anything. So… try to look professional in case anybody shows up." He wandered off. They waited a few minutes, then Jin said, "Okay, I think we've waited long enough. I'll go talk to Chin. You stay here and prepare the 'passengers' for takeoff." Jin followed Chin's path and caught up to him; Chin saw him and said, "Hey guy. What is it?" Jin pointed over to the balloon and replied, "Two customers just showed up."

"Okay. Go back and tell them a tour costs a hundred gold pieces per person."

"Well, they told us they want to go to Roku's Island."

Chin raised an eyebrow. "Roku's Island? We don't usually go out that far."

"I know, and I told them that. But they offered up six hundred gold pieces each." Jin pulled the two pouches from his pocket and gave them to Chin. He carefully tested their weight; Jin stood in tense silence before Chin then said, "Six hundred gold pieces, huh? I guess they could get to Roku's Island with that. Okay, first, take these." He pulled two small yellow rocks from his pocket and gave them to Jin. "Use these spark rocks to light the fuel. And speaking of fuel, two blocks should be enough to get you to Roku's Island and back, but just to be safe, take a few extras. That's it." Jin turned and began to walk away, but just then, Chin called out, "Hey!" Jin froze, certain that Chin was onto his plan. "One last thing," Chin said. "If you guys come across a storm, come straight back here. Don't try to go around it, and don't even _think_ of trying to go through it. Got that?" Jin nodded. "Okay then. You can go now." Jin hurried back to the balloon, grabbing several blocks of fuel on the way. Once at the balloon, he dropped the blocks into the basket, then handed the spark rocks to Toph and said, "Start the burner. Use these to light the fuel." As she lit the put the block into the burner and lit it, Jin untied the tethers. Once finished, he hopped into the basket, and after a few moments, the balloon began to rise into the air. Jin walked to the back of the basket and pulled the lever, activating the propeller. And slowly, the balloon began to fly away.

Roughly an hour later, the balloon drifted lazily over the ocean. Jin grabbed two fuel blocks and pinned the rudder's ropes under them before approaching Toph to say, "We probably don't need those logs anymore. We should get rid of them to keep the weight down." Toph let go of the vent rope, and the two heaved one, then the other log over the side. They watched as the logs tumbled down into the ocean, small white dots appearing when they hit the water. As she leaned against the basket's edge, Toph said, "I can't that plan actually worked." Jin sat down next to the burner. "Me neither. But on the bright side, we're on our way to Roku's Island. And now that we have this balloon, we don't have to pay for a ferry, or walk everywhere." Toph sat down as well. "That's true." Then, an awkward silence settled between the two as the balloon continued to drift through the sky.


	8. Chapter VIII: Roku's Island

Chapter VIII: Roku's Island

Several hours passed as the balloon drifted over the ocean. During that time, Jin and Toph watched as several islands passed by, but they continued onward. Finally, as the sun began to dip into the western sky, an island became visible through the haze on the horizon. It was small, and though it was still considerably far away, two large mountains could be seen on its surface. Another, much larger island was just barely visible through the haze behind the first. As Jin and Toph looked over the edge of the basket, she asked, "Do you think that's it?" Jin retrieved his pack, pulled out the map, and looked back over at the island before ducking down to consult the map. "I think so. There should be a really big island to the southwest of Roku's Island, and another island to the southeast." He peered over the basket's edge, on the left side of the balloon; sure enough, a large island could be seen through the mist. "Yeah, this has to be it," he said. "We should start heading down." Toph grabbed the vent rope and pulled, and the balloon began to descend toward the island.

Roughly ten minutes later, the basket thumped against the ground. Jin opened the burner and put out the fuel while Toph held the vent open, allowing all the hot air to escape. The envelope rapidly deflated and fell to the side of the basket. Jin and Toph then grabbed their packs and climbed out of the basket. They looked around; with the exception of a few patches of grass, the island was completely barren, and made of a strange black rock. Jin bent down to examine the ground. "What is this stuff?" he asked as he pulled a piece from the ground. Toph examined it as well and replied, "I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before." Jin dropped the rock to look around again. "I don't get it. It doesn't look like anybody's lived here for years. Maybe Avatar Aang was wrong about there being firebenders here. …Well, at least we have a nice secluded spot to practice earthbending." Toph put her hand against the ground, closed her eyes, and focused. "No… we're not alone. There are people moving around right under us." She then opened her eyes. "Someone's coming." She then raised an earth tent around them. They sat in darkness for several tense moments. Toph whispered, "They're getting closer." Then, a muffled voice outside the tent said, "I know you're in there. Come out, or I'll blow this tent sky high." Jin and Toph did nothing, but then Toph asked, "Are you a firebender?" The voice replied, "That depends. Are you spies from the Shu Kingdom?"

"No. We're not from Shu. We're earthbenders." Toph lowered the earth tent to demonstrate. They saw the man for the first time- he was young, possibly eighteen, wearing clothes much like Jin's but in a dull red. "I see," he said. "I'll admit, we had earthbenders living here for a while, and we knew about the benders hiding on Crescent Island and in the Sun Warrior city, but I didn't think there were any others beyond the Shu Kingdom. Anyway, if you guys are benders, there's no way you could be spies." He glanced at the balloon behind them. "That's a nice balloon you have there. Where'd you get it?" Toph replied defensively, "We didn't steal it! We're… borrowing it on a long term basis." The man nodded. "Suuure you are. You know, not a lot of ships pass by here, but it'd draw way too much attention if someone spotted that. Maybe you should, I don't know, hide it with your earthbending or something." Toph and Jin then understood what they had to do; they approached the balloon, and bent the earth around it to form a dome over it. Though the dome was noticeable, it was unlikely to arouse suspicion. "Well, now that that's taken care of, I suppose we should head underground now," the man said. He began to walk away from the dome, but stopped and said, "You know, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Mao." Toph said, "I'm Toph, and this is Jin."

"Now that we've been properly introduced, we should be on our way." Mao continued walking, and the two followed. They came to a small cave near the base of one of the mountains and entered. The interior of the cave was rough like a normal cave, but this was only an illusion; only a few feet away from the entrance, the cave became a smooth flight of descending stairs. As the three descended the staircase, Mao said to Jin and Toph, "If you don't mind me asking, where did you guys come from? Why did you come here? Did someone find out you two were benders?" Toph replied, "We're from the east continent, and no, we didn't come here because someone found out we were benders. The truth is complicated." Jin looked over at her. "No it isn't," he said, then turned back to Mao. "The truth is… I'm the Avatar." Mao looked back, but continued to descend the staircase. "Really? Let me guess… you came here to find a firebending teacher, didn't you?"

"Well yeah. You know any?"

"No." A pause. "You know, we don't get many visitors, but people occasionally come to live here. As long as you keep your heads down, no one will notice two extra kids wandering around." They finally reached the bottom of the staircase; the bottom opened into a large cavern that seemed to end abruptly. Jin and Toph then realized that they were facing a long line of buildings; light glowed from behind the buildings, shining through the spaces between them, and noise floated from behind the buildings. Mao turned back to the stairs and said, "I have to go. I need to finish my patrols," before ascending the staircase. Toph and Jin made their way through the alley between two buildings, and emerged on a street much like the one in the town they had visited on the east continent. People milled about amongst numerous stalls that had been set up in front of the buildings. They wandered as well, trying to seem as unassuming as possible, but then, someone called to them, "Hey. You two. Come here." Not wanting to arouse suspicion, they approached the person who called them- a man standing by the entrance of an alley. "Hey. You kids like firebending?" Jin replied, "Uh, yeah. Sure." The man pulled a paper out of his pocket and gave it to Jin. "Then you'll love this: the 43rd annual Ring of Fire tournament. Some of the best firebenders in the entire world will be there." He turned and said, "I have to go now," before disappearing into the alley. Jin looked down at the paper. "It says here that the tournament will be at the top of the main volcano at sunset. Do you think we should go?" Toph looked at him and replied, "Are you kidding? Of course we're going! Maybe we can find a firebending teacher there. Now come on!" Toph grabbed Jin's wrist and dragged him off.

* * *

About half an hour later, Jin and Toph entered a large arena built at the top of the main volcano. Suspended over the (sealed over) vent on four large chains was an equally large platform, with stairs leading up to each side; seats had been carved into the crater surrounding the ring. The stands were packed; Jin and Toph struggled through the crowds, but found a place near the front row. The crowd immediately settled when a massive plume of flame appeared at the center of the platform. It dispersed, leaving a long-haired man in its place. "Welcome to the 43rd annual Ring of Fire!" the man shouted to the crowd. "I am your host, Kai Xin! The rules are simple: only two combatants are allowed in the ring at a time. Just knock the other guy out of the ring, or make him surrender, and you win! Round 1: Blade versus the Phoenix King!" Kai Xin jumped out of the ring, and two others entered. One wore loose clothes and about a half-dozen swords and numerous other small bladed weapons on various belts- this was presumably Blade; the other was a large bald man wearing only a pair of pants- apparently, the Phoenix King. Blade said to the Phoenix King, "Phoenix King. What an inappropriate name. Because when I defeat you, you won't be rising from your ashes again." He then reached into a belt and tossed several knives at the Phoenix King. The Phoenix King sent out a jet of flame that blew away the knives; then, Blade drew two swords and charged. The two fought, Blade with his swords, the Phoenix King with firebending. Finally, the Phoenix King gained the upper hand, and tossed Blade out of the ring.

The rest of the tournament proceeded in much the same way. One or two earthbenders, weapon masters, and even other firebenders- the Phoenix King defeated them all. Toph asked Jin, "What do you think of that guy? He looks like a good firebender." Jin only replied, "Maybe." Many rounds later, Kai Xin silenced the crowd, and announced, "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The final round: The Phoenix King versus last year's champion, Spectre!" A person then entered the ring- they wore a light black suit, and, more peculiarly, a dark metal helmet in the visage of a demon. The Phoenix King said to Spectre, "Last year's win against me was just a fluke, Spectre! I'm taking you down." Spectre said nothing in reply, but simply took a fighting stance. The Phoenix King fired a jet of flames at Spectre, but he easily diverted it, then sent a few fireballs in response; the Phoenix King dodged these, then charged. The two firebenders then battled at close range, sending out jets, arcs, and balls of flames at each other. Then, a wave of fire caught Spectre's right arm, burning away the suit and searing the skin underneath. He then sent out a massive burst of fire that knocked the Earth King off balance. Before his opponent could recover, Spectre drew a large circle, arcs of electricity forming as he did; he did this with the other hand before firing a massive burst of lightning. The lightning struck the ground in front of the Phoenix King and exploded; the force of the explosion knocked him out of the ring, into the stands off to Jin and Toph's left. Toph leaned over again and asked, "What do you think about that guy? Will he work?" Jin whispered back, "I think so." Then, Kai Xin announced over the crowd, "The winner of the Ring of Fire, and still your champion, Spectre!" The crowd's cheers became deafening, but fell silent when Kai Xin stepped into the center of the ring and said, "To make things more interesting, I'm willing to offer this sack of gold pieces…" He held up a small sack. "…to anybody who can defeat Spectre." There were no takers. "What?" Kai Xin asked. "Nobody dares to challenge him?"

Jin then stood up and shouted "I will!" He began to make his way toward the ring, but Toph grabbed his arm, and hissed at him, "Have you completely lost it? There's no way you can take him on!" He brushed her hand off and replied, "I know. I just want to see if I can talk to him," before hopping down to the bottom and climbing the stairs to the ring. Once he was in front of Spectre, Kai Xin exited, and Jin said, "Listen, I don't really want to fight. I need to talk to you." Spectre replied by launching several fireballs; Jin quickly raised a rock wall to block them and said to himself, "Okay, so you don't want to talk." He pushed the wall at Spectre, but he dodged it and shot several more fireballs in response. The process repeated itself several more times; then after Jin pushed the wall at Spectre again, Spectre jumped over it and threw a massive arc of fire at him. He tried to raise several rock walls, but the arc simply burned through them all. Jin panicked- he'd exhausted everything he knew, and now was out of options.

Just then, Jin's eyes began to glow a bright white. He braced himself and, incredibly, began to bend the arc of fire around him. He pulled it around him in a circle; all previous traces of fear had seemingly disappeared. Then, Jin thrust out an arm, throwing the flames back at Spectre. Spectre was too shocked to react, and was tossed out of the ring. The crowd had fallen dead silent through the entire sequence. Jin's eyes stopped glowing, and then he jumped off the platform after Spectre. He landed hard, but got up quickly in time to see Spectre heading toward a tunnel in the side of the volcano. He caught up to him and said, "Listen, I'm really sorry, but I need to talk to you about something." Spectre kept walking as he replied, "Look, whoever you are, just leave me alone." His words were nearly incomprehensible, being spoken in a low voice and further muffled by his helmet. "Listen. I'm the Avatar. I need a firebending teacher, and I think it's supposed to be you." Spectre viciously tossed an arc of fire behind him. "I said leave me alone!" He then entered the tunnel alone, and was swallowed by darkness.


	9. Chapter IX: Spectre

Chapter IX: Spectre

"I have to admit, we've had our fair share of visitors in the past, but we've never had an Avatar here before. If I remember the legends right, then you're here to find a firebending teacher. Am I right?" Jin, Toph, and Kai Xin were sitting in the stands around the arena; the stands had long since emptied, and they were the only three there. Jin replied to Kai Xin, "Yeah. I need a firebending teacher. So I need to find Spectre. Can you tell me anything about him?" Kai Xin shrugged. "To be honest with you, nobody really knows who Spectre is- I don't even know, and I'm the commissioner of this tournament. He just showed up with an application last year, and won. He never said a word to anyone during the whole thing, and as soon as it was over, he just disappeared. I'll tell you what- I'll go see if I can find his application. There has to be something there which can help you find him." Kai Xin stood up and left for some unknown place.

Toph then turned to Jin and said, "You know, you seem to be dead set on having Spectre as your teacher. Maybe you should look at one of the other fighters. I mean, what will you do if you can't find him?" Jin looked over at her and replied, "Normally, I wouldn't trust my instincts in a situation like this, because they'd usually be wrong. But I just can't shake this feeling about him. Spectre has to be my teacher. He just has to." Kai Xin returned holding a piece of paper; he gave it to Jin and said, "I found Spectre's application. It doesn't have a name, but it does have an address. It matches up with the one he submitted last year. You should try looking there."

Several minutes later, Jin and Toph stood outside the home marked on Spectre's application. The house stood on the outskirts of the underground settlement, and from appearances, had been long abandoned. Jin took a deep breath, approached the door, and pushed it open. From what could be seen in the sliver of light from the door, the inside of the house was even worse than the outside; most of the furniture was either overturned, rotting, or in most cases, both; the floor was strewn with various amounts of garbage; swarms of insects skittered across the floor; and various sections of the walls, floor, and ceiling were severely scorched. Jin and Toph entered, stepping over the debris as best as they could. "Hello?" Jin called. "Is anyone here?" He looked back at Toph. "Do you think he's really here?" Toph continued to make her way to the middle of the room. "Maybe not. But we should check the whole place out before we jump to any conclusions." She looked over to her left and stopped. "Wait… what's that?" Jin looked over; a rectangle glowed on the wall in a soft orange light. He looked over to Toph and said, "I'll check it out." He took another deep breath and approached the door, then slowly pushed it open.

Jin immediately noticed the room beyond was much cleaner than the main room. The room was lit by a single lantern that hung from the ceiling. Before Jin could take in any more of the room, a movement to his right caught his attention. He looked over and froze. In the room was a girl with her back was turned toward him; she had long black hair, but Jin couldn't see her face. She wore a familiar looking pair of pants, but no shirt, only a long bandage wrapped tightly around her chest. She reached back and untied the bandage, which fell to the floor; Jin gasped, noticing the girl's back was heavily covered with burns. She heard Jin's gasp, and in a blur, grabbed a piece of clothing from the ground, held it against her chest, and whirled around to face Jin, arm outstretched, a flame lit at her fingertips. When she saw him, the flame disappeared, and her expression changed from fury to irritation. "Oh, it's you," she muttered. "What do you want?" Now that Jin could see her face, he noticed the girl had another scar on her face- it crossed her nose and stretched under her eyes. Now that the girl faced him, Jin could feel his face burn; he stammered, "I, I… I was, looking for Spectre…" The girl sat down on a bed in the room. "Well you found me. Congratulations." She patted the bed next to her. "Come, sit. Let's _chat_, shall we? And tell your girlfriend she can come too." Jin instantly blurted in defense," She's not my girlfriend!" but sat down next to the girl; Toph sat down as well, next to Jin. "First off," Jin said, "how do I know you're the real Spectre?" The girl held up her right arm, showing the bandages wrapped around it. "You probably saw me get this in the final round of the tournament. But if you still don't believe me…" She stretched over the bed, and bent over the side to pick up something off the ground. She held the object up for them to see- a helmet, made from a dark metal and twisted into the visage of a demon. A helmet much like the one Spectre wore during the tournament. She resumed sitting with the helmet in her lap, but neglected to continue holding her shirt to her chest; Jin immediately turned away, face burning, and asked, "Would you please put a shirt on?" The girl asked, "Why?"

"It's just… really uncomfortable." Jin then heard a tearing of fabric as the girl replied, "Right, right. Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable." There was a rustling sound, then the girl said, "Okay, you can look now." Jin looked; the girl was now wearing her shirt, but had torn off the sleeves. "There. Feel better now?" Jin nodded. "Good. Now tell me, what are you doing here?" Jin replied, "Well, I was at the tournament, and I saw you there… well, you know I was there. I faced you." The girl grew impatient. "Just get to the point." Toph then said, "What Jin's trying to say is, he's the Avatar. And he needs to find a firebending teacher. It's important." The girl stood up. "Not my problem. Anyway, from what I saw at the tournament, you don't need a firebending teacher. Now, get out of here." She started to walk away, but Jin said, "But I need to master firebending before New Year's Day. If I don't, an army of benders will begin attacking and take over the world." The girl waved her hand, and the lantern in the room went out. "Again, not my problem," she said, leaving Jin and Toph alone in darkness. Jin put his face in his hands. "What do we do now?" he asked. Toph put her hand on his shoulder and replied, "I guess we'll have to find someone else." Jin stood up and began to leave the room. "You know, I think I saw some hot springs on the way up to the top of the volcano. I'm gonna go there and think about this whole thing." Toph stood up as well. "That's not a bad idea. Maybe little relaxation will help clear our heads."

An hour later, Jin and Toph relaxed in the waters of the hot spring. They sat apart in different pools, the pools separated by a large wall. Both sat with their backs to the wall, mulling over their thoughts in silence. Then, to Toph's left, a voice said, "You know, when I first saw you, I didn't think you'd be the hot spring type." She looked over- the girl from before sat next to her. Toph said, "I thought you didn't want to talk to us." The girl replied, "You just caught me at a bad time. I've been thinking about what you said, and I might be willing to help you guys out. But first, I need to know something- who exactly are you guys fighting against?"

"Avatar Aang told us that after the war, a bunch of generals that led the non-benders began trying to learn how to bend, so they could… make better soldiers, but their descendants want to make an army for world domination." A pause. "I don't really know the story that well. You should ask Jin. He knows the story better."

"Okay. I'll go talk to your boyfriend."

"He's not my-"

"Whatever." The girl stood up and left.

On the other side of the wall, Jin sat with his back against the wall, eyes closed, trying to think of what to do next. He had been wrong about Spectre, but would have been more ashamed if his feelings hadn't misled him before. But even now, he still couldn't shake his feelings about that girl. She seemed… familiar somehow, as though he had met her before. Jin almost immediately dismissed that thought- there was no possible chance that he and the girl had met before today. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted when someone said to him, "I found you. We need to talk." Jin opened his eyes and gasped; the girl sat next to him just as before. Before the stunned Jin could say anything, the girl said, "Oh, get over yourself. In fact, you should feel honored; not only have you seen the great Spectre unmasked, but you've also seen her naked. Twice. On the same day." Jin turned away, face burning. "Stop mocking me."

"But you make it so easy for me."

"What do you want anyway? You gonna tell me, or are you just gonna sit there and make fun of me?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to sit here all day and make you feel uncomfortable, I need to tell you something. I thought about what you said, and I'm willing to reconsider."

"That's a little suspicious. How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"You can ask me any question about me that you want, and I'll answer it honestly."

"Okay… I know Spectre isn't your real name, so what is it, then?"

"That's a fair question. And you're right- Spectre isn't my name. My real name is Nina." _Nina?_ Jin thought to himself. _What a strange name._ Then, Nina said, "Okay, I answered your question, so it's only fair that you answer one of mine. I want to know about these people you're fighting against."

A pause. "Alright. They're called the Order. They're the descendants of the generals that led-"

"Yeah yeah, that led the non-benders during the war, trying to learn the secrets of bending, and all that. I know that already."

"Well, that's all Avatar Aang told me about them." He then asked, "Why are you so interested, anyway?"

"There's a story I've heard that after the war, some of the firebenders that survived secretly made their way back to a special sanctum, hidden in the Fire Nation. This sanctum was where all the information about firebending and its techniques were kept. But when they opened the sanctum, it was empty. So they left, assuming the records of firebending had been destroyed. But when I heard your girlfriend say this… Order is trying to raise an army of benders…"

"You think the Order stole the firebending records."

"Yeah. And if they managed to find the firebenders's sanctuary, then they've probably found the others, too."

Jin asked, "Aang? What do you think of this?" Aang appeared, sitting at the edge of the water by the wall, and replied, "Unfortunately, Nina's right. At the war's end, the generals began searching for the sanctums of the Four Nations. The sanctums, as Nina said, were hidden in secluded locations all over the world, and contained all the collected knowledge of the bending arts. The Order collected the information from each sanctum, and then sealed it within a sanctum of its own." Aang disappeared, and Nina then said, "Do you realize how important this is? Not just to me, but all firebenders. When the Order raided our sanctum, they took several thousand years of firebending history with them. We thought it was destroyed, lost forever. But, if it still exists, after all this time…" She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm rambling. We should focus on the matter at hand. Anyway, now that you've told me what I want to know, I guess I'd be willing to reconsider."

"So you'll teach me firebending?"

"Of course. We'll start tomorrow. I'm sure 'Spectre' can reserve the arena for us."

"Thanks." There was no reply. Jin looked behind him; Nina was gone. He hadn't heard her leave at all. "_What's the deal with that girl?_ He thought to himself. _First, she doesn't want anything to do with me, and then she says she's willing to reconsider? She comes and goes like the wind._ In his musings, Jin slumped against the wall and soaked in the hot water of the spring.

The next morning came, and Jin and Toph made their way to the arena again; unlike the evening before, the way was clear. The arena was empty, and through the mouth of the volcano, the sky shone through. Toph sat down at one of the seats surrounding the ring and said, "I'll wait up here. Good luck with your first lesson." Jin continued to the basin of the volcano, then climbed the stairs up to the ring. At the opposite side sat Nina, legs dangling over the edge of the ring, wearing her demon helmet. As he approached, she looked back at him and said, "You made it. You ready to start first lesson?" Jin nodded. "Good." Nina stood up, then took off the helmet. "Hate wearing this thing. It's hot, and it smells, and I can barely see out of it…" As she set the helmet down, Jin asked, "Then why do you wear it?"

"Well, about two years ago… a bad thing happened. I was banned from competing in the Ring of Fire, and all the other tournaments. So I had to come up with a new way to get in. So, I made up Spectre." Jin pointed to the scar on her face. "Is that where you…" Nina touched her scar. "This? No. I got this the year before that, when I was twelve. I was in the final round against that weirdo with all the knives when he threw one and hit me in the face. I still managed to beat him, even though half of my nose was falling off for most of the fight." She walked over to him. "Now before we begin, I need to see what I'm working with. Just try to make as much fire as you can." Jin replied, "Okay," then began to concentrate. After focusing as hard as he could, he trust out his arm; however, all he created was a feeble puff of smoke that barely left the palm of his hand. Nina walked over to him and said, "I'm going to tell you something very important. The strength in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body, extends past your limbs, and becomes…" Nina took a deep breath and thrust out her arm like Jin, but this time, a massive burst of fire shot from her hand. "…fire. Try it again, and this time, remember to breathe." Jin nodded, took a deep breath, and repeated his actions; this time, a jet of fire shot from his palm, though it wasn't nearly as impressive as Nina's. Nina applauded and said, "Not bad. And remember that breathing thing. A master firebender needs to have proper breathing control in order to firebend effectively. We'll work on that as you go through your training. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Try it one last time." Jin nodded, took a deep breath, and continued.


	10. Chapter X: The Avatar State

Chapter X: The Avatar State

Two weeks passed after Jin and Toph arrived on Roku's Island. During that time, Jin's firebending progress grew, slowly but surely. Jin also resumed his earthbending training as well, and in time he became a formidable earthbender. But as time passed, Jin grew more and more concerned. He and Toph would need to move on, and find his next teacher. On the eleventh day, after a particularly challenging lesson, Jin asked, "Nina, as much as I'd like to stay here, sooner or later Toph and I will have to leave and find my next bending teacher. So I was thinking, why don't you come with us? After all, it's only five months until the Order attacks, and we need to be ready as soon as possible." Nina sat down at the edge of the ring and replied, "Thanks for the offer. But I can't leave here. I have an obligation to my people that I'd protect them. After all, that's part of what these tournaments are about… well, that and so we don't go insane over the fear that someone will find us and turn us in."

"Well I have an obligation to protect the surviving benders, too. But I need your help. If you don't, in a few months there might not _be_ a people for you to protect."

"I know that, and I wish I could go with you. But my hands are tied here. I'm sorry." Jin turned to leave the ring. "I understand," he said, "but if you ever change his mind, just let us know."

On the evening marking the two weeks Jin and Toph had been on the island, the two and Nina were resting in Nina's house. Jin had just finished his earthbending training and the three were about to settle in when a bell began to sound somewhere. Nina's eyes widened and raw fear rapidly spread across her face. She quickly got up, took of her vest, and pants to reveal her black suit underneath, and put on her helmet, all the while mumbling, "No no no no no no…" Toph asked, "What is it?" Nina only said, "They found us," before leaving the house. Concerned, Jin and Toph followed. They snaked through the alley between the buildings, then climbed up a staircase, up to the surface of the island. Then, they turned to the east edge of the island.

On the ocean to the east, a massive fleet of warships could be seen in the rapidly setting sun. Roughly two dozen approached from the east, belching black trails of smoke. Others had gathered as well- Jin recognized Blade and the Phoenix King among them; presumably, anyone able to fight had gathered here. Then, one of the ships launched a flaming rock at the island- the rest followed, and the sky was ablaze with dozens of flaming projectiles. The benders of the island replied in kind, throwing earth and fire in an attempt to intercept the boulders. The benders stopped some of the boulders… but not all. The boulders that weren't intercepted slammed violently into the island, forming massive craters on its surface. One slammed into the main volcano, tearing off the top. In the brief moment when the rain of boulders stopped, the benders launched their attacks at the ships, but to no avail, and the ships launched another volley. The benders again tried to shoot down the boulders, and this time, Jin and Toph joined in. Again, some boulders were destroyed, but many still broke through. Again, in the brief respite between volleys, the benders launched their attacks, but again, to no avail. The process repeated several times, but nothing halted the ships. And with each volley the shots became more accurate; Jin, Toph, and the few earthbenders with them raised a dome over the group for shelter during volleys, but eventually left it up. And still the ships came. Finally, the ships stopped firing. Jin and Toph looked outside the dome, to see a half dozen ships lined up against the island's rocky shore, each ship dropped its ramp against the island's ground, and from each ship flooded a swarm of soldiers in heavy armor. The benders began throwing everything they could at the soldiers, but even though dozens fell, more took their place. Ships continued to land at the island, bringing even more soldiers; strangely, Jin noticed none of them were armed. Finally, the two groups came face-to-face, and he quickly found out why. The soldiers made several quick jabs at each bender, who then collapsed like felled trees. Finally, a soldier reached Jin; he pulled back his arm in preparation to launch a rock spire, but before he could, the soldier jabbed Jin's chest several times. None were especially painful, but Jin felt all the strength suddenly leave his body, and quickly collapsed as well. Somewhere next to him, he heard Toph and Nina collapse as well. He tried to get up, but no matter how hard he strained, his body refused to obey him; it was as though his limbs had been buried under a pile of earth. He could hear others strain as well, and their complaints of how they couldn't move.

"So, this is all the last firebenders have to offer. How disappointing." Everyone fell silent. Jin struggled, and moved his head just enough to see; standing in front of the soldiers was a man- he wore the armor of the other soldiers, but though he wore a helmet, he wore no faceplate. The man was presumably an officer. He continued, "I suppose it can't be helped." One of the incapacitated firebenders shouted, "I knew it! Those two outsiders betrayed us!" The voice belonged to Mao; the officer merely laughed and replied, "Don't fool yourself. We've known about this little settlement of yours for years. And we know about the settlements on Crescent Island and in the Sun Warrior city as well. Once we're done here, we'll round up the rest of your kind." He turned to the soldiers. "Load them onto my ship." The soldiers then began to carry the limp bodies of the firebenders to one particular ship. One approached and casually lifted Jin onto his shoulder. Jin strained again, but his body would barely move. As the soldier carried Jin over to the ship, he heard someone ask, "Why did you go through all this trouble just to capture us? Why not just kill all of us instead?" There was a short pause before the officer replied, "Believe it or not, someone agreed to pay us quite a lot of money if we captured you alive. It's not my place to ask why, but that isn't important. We've done what we came here to do, and that's all that matters." The soldier climbed the ramp up to the ship's deck. Jin continued to struggle; the soldier noticed this, and said to him, "Stop struggling. It won't do you any good. It's over, kid." Then, Jin replied, in a voice that wasn't quite his own, "_**No. It's not over**_."

Suddenly, Jin twisted out of the soldier's grip, surrounding himself in flames. Jin landed on one knee as the soldier was tossed off the ramp, into the ocean. He stood up, eyes closed; then, the soldiers began to rush toward him. Without opening his eyes, he thrust out his arm, and a rock spire shot from the ground, punching one soldier in the chest. He began to walk down the ramp, repeating his action over and over with every step. One, two, three, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty… any and all soldiers that approached were struck down immediately. Jin approached the officer; the remaining soldiers formed a circle around him but dared not approach, lest they be struck down by one of Jin's crushing blows. Finally, Jin opened his eyes; those who stood in front of Jin gasped, for his eyes glowed a pure, bright white. One soldier gasped, "The Avatar!" Upon hearing this, many soldiers turned and fled in terror. "So the Avatar has been hiding here all these years," the officer said. "How wonderful. I'm sure our employers will be grateful for-" He never finished. At that moment, something happened so quickly, it could not bee seen. But at its end, Jin stood with his arm outstretched, a rock spire emerged from the ground where the officer stood, and the officer himself lay several feet away. Most of the soldiers that remained fled, but a few foolish ones charged Jin, quickly suffering the same fate as their commander. The ships that hadn't landed at the island launched another volley of flaming boulders at the island. Jin looked over his shoulder briefly, held one arm straight out, then dropped it; all the boulders suddenly shot downward, straight into the ocean. He then spun and raised his arms, impaling several ships on massive rock spires. Jin then held out his arms and focused; the entire island began to tremble as he focused his energy. Toph, not fully recovered from the attack, stumbled down the ramp to Jin and said, "Jin, come on. We need to get out of here." He continued to focus as he replied, "_**Get back on the ship. I can handle this.**_" Toph remained rooted. He shouted at her, "_**What are you waiting for!? Go!**_" Toph recoiled from the shock of seeing Jin that way, but turned back and staggered back up the ramp. When she was out of sight, Jin drove his heel into the ground; a rock spire emerged from the ground, and shoved the ship away from the island. He continued to focus with all his might. Then, magma burst forth from the top of the main volcano. He twisted his arms, and the magma followed; then, he began hurling streams of molten liquid at the ships that remained. As soon as the magma made contact, the ships burst into flames and began to rapidly sink. Soon, all the ships were ablaze, and the sky was alight with their smoldering debris.

Then, Jin returned. The first thing he noticed was that everything was rapidly moving away from him. He looked down, stunned to see himself still standing on the island, magma flowing around him. He looked down at his hands, seeing that they had turned a transparent blue. Jin continued to rise into the air; he was high above the ground when something scooped him out of the air. Jin suddenly found himself on the head of a massive horned beast with six legs, a massive, flat tail, and most interesting of all, a mark in the shape of an arrow on the beast's head. A flying bison. Next to Jin sat Aang; as the bison flew away from the island, Aang looked back and said, "It's time you learned." The bison flew through a large cloud; it emerged into a massive void, filled with yellowish clouds. Innumerable people stood amongst the clouds, staring down at Aang and Jin. Jin recognized a few as Avatars that had lived before Aang. Aang then said to Jin, "What happened just now is that you entered the Avatar State. The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars." The eyes of the Avatars around them began to glow; Aang looked back to reveal his eyes were glowing as well. "The glow symbolizes the combination of all your past lives, focusing their energy through your body." The Avatars began to fade away. "In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful… but you are also at your most vulnerable." Jin asked, "What do you mean?" The clouds began to rapidly blow away as well; Jin then suddenly found himself standing next to Aang. To Aang's left were lined up all the previous Avatars. "If you are killed in the Avatar State, the cycle of reincarnation will be broken…" The Avatars began to rapidly fade away sequentially. "…and the Avatar will cease to exist." Aang faded away as well. Then Jin found himself on the bison again, rapidly flying back to Roku's Island. They flew straight toward Jin's body, and were absorbed in a brilliant blue-white light. Jin's spirit had returned to his body again. But suddenly, Jin's body grew incredibly weak, drained of all its strength. Jin collapsed, unconscious before he ever hit the ground.

Jin groaned as a bright light awoke him. He opened his eyes; the sky above was a pale pink, dotted with scattered clouds. He sat up; a strong light glowed above the horizon to his right. In the ocean before him, a handful of ships had been impaled on rock spires. But the flagship everyone had been carried aboard was nowhere to be seen. He frantically looked around; Toph and Nina slept a short distance behind him. He crawled over to Toph, tapped her shoulder, and said, "Toph. Toph, wake up." She groaned and rolled over, mumbling, "Nng… leemee alone. It's too early to-" She stopped as soon as she saw Jin, then sat up and wrapped her arms around him. "Jin! You're awake! Are you okay? We were worried about you." She let go, and Jin replied, "I'm fine. But where is everyone?"

"After you passed out, everyone went on that fleet's flagship and left. They told me they were going to the other settlements to warn the other firebenders."

"What about her?" He pointed to Nina.

"I don't know. She stayed behind after everyone else left. I think she wanted to talk to you." Nina grumbled and sat up. "Can you please keep it down? I'm trying to sleep." She looked back at them, noticing Jin had awoken. "Oh, you're awake. I need to talk to you about something." Jin stood up. "I heard." He began to walk away. Confused, Nina followed and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm trying to find our balloon. Toph and I need to get going to find my next teacher." He began searching around. "Now where is it?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Jin finally spotted the dome, and pushed it back into the ground, revealing the balloon. "Hmm? So you've reconsidered my offer, then?" He hopped into the basket and began searching his pack.

Nina sighed. "I guess so. Everyone's gone, and it isn't like I can really live by myself here." She then asked, "So what are we going to do?" Jin pulled out the map and looked over it. "Well, I'm learning earth and fire, so we need to find benders for the next element- air. And I know the perfect place to start." He showed Nina and Toph the map, pointing to a symbol on a small group of islands to the northwest. "Here. The Western Air Temple."


	11. Chapter XI: The Western Air Temple

Chapter XI: The Western Air Temple

Several hours passed. The balloon drifted over the ocean lazily. Nina launched a few bursts of fire into the burner, then asked, "Are you sure this is the right way?" Jin, sitting near the front of the basket, looked up from the map and replied, "I hope so. I can't figure out which way we're going." He looked over the basket's edge; the ocean stretched on forever in all directions. "I wish I'd thought of buying a compass. Now that I thing about it…" Jin grabbed his pack and started emptying it. He pulled out, in no particular order: his sleeping bag, his money bag, a lantern, several pouches containing food, a handful of medical supplies, and his writing tools. He picked up the lantern and said, "I didn't even know I had this," before stuffing everything into the pack again. "But of course, no compass." He slumped against the basket's edge. "Great. Something else I have to buy." Nina closed the hatch on the burner. "Why buy it? I mean, you stole this, right? Why not just steal a compass too?" Jin looked up. "Who told you that?"

"You did. Just now." Jin slumped against the basket's edge again and said nothing. The silence continued until a large island finally appeared on the horizon. Toph, who had moved to the front, looked over the side and asked, "Is that it?" Jin pinned the rudder's ropes under several fuel blocks, walked to the front, and looked as well. "It could be," he said, "but it's still too far away to tell. We shouldn't get our hopes up." The island continued to approach; as more details became visible, they could see that the island was dominated by several large, steep mountains. Jin looked down at the map, up at the island again, and said, "It's not the right island, but we're close." He looked over to the west, at the glowing orange light of the sun. "We should probably land there and camp for the night." He tugged the rope attached to the vent, and the balloon began to descend.

A few minutes later, Jin tossed his pack out of the basket of the now deflated balloon. He hopped out, then he and Toph covered the balloon with an earth dome. They had landed at the edge of a forest near the base of one of the mountains. "That's taken care of," Toph said, "Now we should probably set up camp." Jin began to head off, saying, "I'll get wood for a fire." Nina said to him, "That won't be necessary," then snapped her fingers; at that moment, a fire lit on the ground. "Well that's convenient," Jin said, while he pulled his sleeping bag from his pack. He then said to Nina, "You know, since you'll be traveling with us, Nina, we should probably tell you our rules. First rule… no bending. Ever. At least if there's a possibility that someone could find us. Rule number two… we never stay in any one place for too long." Toph took over. "Third rule, no distractions. We need to focus on getting where we need to go. Fourth rule, once we get where we need to go, and do what we need to, we leave." Nina sat by the fire. "Seems fair enough. I think I can remember that."

Night fell as the three sat around the campfire. Jin took a stick, and stuck its end through a fish before holding it over the fire. "Can I say something?" Nina asked. Jin replied, "Sure." Nina thought for a moment, then said, "I'm a little worried about this whole airbender thing. The stories say that they wandered across the world- I mean, that's why they're called the Air Nomads. And if they're nomads, how can we possibly hope to find them?" Jin slouched back slightly and replied, "You forgot about the war already? Even if they kept a low key, it wouldn't be safe for the airbenders to keep wandering, especially in large numbers. The Air Temples are fairly isolated, and they're important to the airbenders, so they'd be the best places to look." Jin stuck his stick in the ground, angling it close to the fire, and stood up. "I need to take care of something." He began to walk away when Toph asked, "Where are you going?" He replied, "I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back. Watch my fish for me." Jin walked off a distance into the woods, and when the camp was out of sight, immediately hid behind one of the trees. He climbed up the tree, then made his way back to the campsite, climbing across the branches between the trees. Finally, the campsite came into view; Jin hid behind a particularly thick branch and peered from behind it. Toph and Nina were still sitting around the fire, and appeared to be talking. He strained to listen.

"…so is Bei Fong the only earthbender settlement?" He heard Nina ask. Toph replied, "I don't really know. I know it's the biggest, though. It has about ten, twenty thousand people living there. Probably the largest settlement of benders in the world."

"That's pretty interesting. Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

"Well… it's sort of a personal question."

"Go ahead and ask."

"Okay… what do you think of Jin?"

Toph looked at Nina. "What?"

"You heard. What's your opinion of him?"

"I don't know. I mean, I barely know him."

"Don't give me that. I've seen the way you look at him when he isn't paying attention."

Jin couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw Toph's face redden. "It's not like that."

"Don't feel too bad. He does the same thing." Jin felt his own face redden.

"Okay… well, I guess he's… kind of… cute. I guess."

"So, has anything _interesting_ happened between you two yet?"

"No. The truth is… things started getting awkward before we met you. I'm glad that we'll have someone else traveling with us now." She looked over her shoulder into the woods. "You can come out now, mouth-breather." In shock, Jin let go of the branch and lost his balance, falling out of the tree with a loud thump. He grumbled as he stood up and asked, "How long did you know I was there?" He walked back to the campfire and sat down in front of it. "The moment you started climbing that tree." Jin pulled his stick from the fire, the fish completely burned away. "Hey, great job watching my fish." Nina then asked, "So what do you think of Toph, Jin? Do you feel the same way?" When Jin didn't reply, she said, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I'll find out eventually." Jin then grabbed his sleeping bag and said, "Oh hey, look at the time. We should probably get some sleep. Goodnight everyone!" Nina then said, "Really? It seems a little early. I'm sure we have a few more-" Jin stuck his hand out of his sleeping bag and waved it to extinguish the fire. "I _said_, goodnight everyone." Nina grumbled something, and lay down to sleep; Toph did the same.

The light from the rising sun awoke Jin the next morning. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and walked a short distance to the shore. He looked over to the east; orange-pink light shone on the horizon, but the sun had not fully risen yet. He sat down near the ocean and watched the sun rise. "What is it with you and waking up early?" There was a soft thump as Toph sat down next to him. "I don't know…" he replied. "It's just something I've always done." He then said, "I thought about this a little, and I think we should stay here an extra day." She looked over, shocked. "Are you kidding? You said yourself we need to get though this as soon as possible."

"I know. But yesterday we took down an entire armada and saved a bunch of firebenders. I think we earned an extra day to rest." Toph laid back. "Yeah, I guess that's true. I suppose we could all use a little break." As she and Jin stared out across the ocean, a thought occurred to Jin. "I just remembered something," he said. "I remember I said I was going to teach you how to swim. And since we have a day off, I could teach you. That is, if you want me to." Toph smiled. "Sure. That sounds… fun." An awkward silence settled between them, before Toph stood up and said, "Well, I should probably go tell Nina our plan for today. So, uh… I'll see you then." She wandered off. Jin continued to sit watching the ocean, when Aang's voice said to him, "You shouldn't let yourself get too complacent. Once word gets out that the Avatar has returned, there's no doubt the Order will begin looking for you." Jin replied, "I know. But we'll only be staying here for a day. I promise." Jin then said, "Aang, I need to ask you something." Aang appeared, sitting next to Jin. "What is it, Jin?"

"Well, what can you tell me about the airbenders? Is there anything about them I should know? Is there anything that'll help me learn airbending?"

"Well, seven hundred years ago, the Fire Nation used the power of Sozin's Comet to attack the four Air Temples, beginning the war. A handful of airbenders were away from the temples at the time and survived by going into hiding. After the war ended, I set out to find the descendants of the survivors and teach them the ways of airbending. Initially, I found about a thousand, but after the Air Temples were restored, the number grew considerably, and included war orphans, refugees… really, any non-bending children who had been displaced during the war. The airbending population stabilized during the three hundred years after the war, but the Air Nomads, as a people, were never truly reestablished. Then… well…"

"Um, thanks, but I was hoping I could learn more about airbending." Aang fell silent for several moments, then said, "Airbending will probably be the most difficult form of bending you'll learn. Unlike the other elements, its focus is mainly avoiding an opponent's attacks rather than delivering your own." Aang disappeared, leaving Jin alone and very confused. Why would airbending be the most difficult style for him to master? As the last element he would have to master, shouldn't waterbending be the most difficult? Jin decided he would ponder this another time, stood up, and began to search for a place to teach Toph to swim.

An hour or so passed. Jin found a small lake deep in the forest behind their camp, close to the base of the closest mountain. Several rock outcroppings rose around and even from within the lake itself, and most were perfectly placed to dive from. He returned to the camp and said, "I found the perfect place. Come on!" before he grabbed Toph's hand and dragged her back to the lake. When they arrived, she took her hand away and said, "Okay, okay, settle down. We have all day to do this."

"I'm sorry. I'm just excited about this." He started to take off his shirt. "Swimming isn't too hard. I learned how to do it myself, so think how fast you'll learn with someone else teaching you." He took off his pants, revealing he wore a pair of shorts underneath. "Now take off your clothes." Toph looked at him, shocked, face red. "What!? No!" Jin buried his face in his palm. "I didn't mean like that." Toph let out a defeated sigh and said, "Fine," before taking off her clothes as well, revealing she wore shorts and several bindings around her chest. She looked down, embarrassed. "I… no one's ever seen me in my underwear before." Her face reddened again, but Jin put his hand on her shoulder. "I know you're not used to this, but you don't have anything to be ashamed of. Now come on." He started to climb one of the rock outcroppings and Toph followed. At the top, after Toph climbed up, Jin said to her, "Now I'll admit, I'm not sure what the best way to go about this would be. The only thing I can think of would be to jump right in." Toph looked over the edge of the outcropping, and withdrew almost immediately. "Uh… I'm suddenly not too sure about the just jumping in thing. Can't we try something else?" Jin grabbed her wrist. "Are you kidding? Come on! It'll be fun!" He ran to the edge of the outcropping and jumped off, with Toph in tow. Toph's screams were silenced immediately when the two hit the water.

Jin surfaced almost immediately. A few moments passed, but Toph didn't surface; Jin, still holding her wrist, pulled her up. Toph gasped for air when she surfaced, splashing in a desperate attempt to keep herself afloat. She spluttered at him, "Jin! Are you crazy!? What were you thinking!?" Jin replied, "I'm sorry. I… I just…" Awkward silence settled between them for several moments before Jin said, "Well… now that we're here, I guess we should start the lesson, shouldn't we?" She replied bitterly, "I guess so." Jin let go of Toph's hand; almost immediately, Toph wrapped her arms and legs around Jin, trembling in fear. "Toph, if you want to learn how to swim, you'll have to let go of me." She said nothing in reply, but her grip tightened; Jin thought for a few moments, and then said, "Toph, you have my word that as the Avatar, I will not allow you to come to any harm." At this, Toph's grip slackened; Jin marveled that his promise actually worked, and grabbed her wrist to ensure she didn't sink. "Okay, this next part's a little hard to explain, but I'll try. You have to use your arms and legs to push the water so you stay up. Do you understand?" Toph nodded. "Okay, I'm going to let go now..." He let go of Toph's wrist. She dipped low into the water, but remained above the surface. She said excitedly, in-between breaths, "Hey… I'm doing it! I'm swimming!" Jin replied, "Not bad. But you still have a long way to go." He swam a distance away from Toph, then said, "Now try swimming over to me." She started swimming over; however, her progress was slow, almost painfully so. It took several minutes for her to reach him, and when she finally did, she grabbed onto him, thoroughly exhausted. "Just… give me a minute… to catch my breath…" she said to him.

Then, there was a splash somewhere in the lake. Nina surfaced, laughing. "This is great!" She shouted to them. "Why didn't you tell me this was here?" As she swam over to them, Jin asked, "You know how to swim?" She stopped in front of them and replied, "Sure! There was a cave on the south part of Roku's that connected to the ocean. I used to go swimming there all the time when I was little. What are you guys doing out here anyway?" Toph answered, "Jin was teaching me how to swim."

"Sounds neat. Can I help?" After a few moments, Jin replied, "Sure."

The three returned to the camp a few hours later. Toph had gotten a little better, but she still had a long way to go before she became a better swimmer. At the camp, Jin made a small fire and sat down in front of it. Toph and Nina joined him. Toph lay down and said, "That was fun. I didn't think swimming would take so much out of me." Jin then said, "You know, this might sound weird, but I'm actually looking forward to moving on tomorrow. This day just feels like it took too long." Nina replied, "Same here. I'm sure we'll all feel better once we get moving again." She curled up next to the fire and closed her eyes. Jin lay down as well, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

When the light of the sun awoke Jin the next morning, he began smiling before he even opened his eyes. He sat up and shouted "Good morning everyone!" He received two annoyed grumbles in reply. Toph sat up and asked, "Did you have to yell?" He stood up and replied, "You should be excited! We finally get to see the Western Air Temple! And hopefully we can find a teacher for me there!" as he uncovered the hot air balloon. He grabbed his pack and threw it in the basket before climbing in himself. "Come on!" he shouted. "We have to go!" Toph stood up and climbed into the balloon as well; after a few moments, Nina dragged herself up and followed. Jin ignited the fuel in the burner, and once the envelope fully inflated, the balloon began to rise.

A few hours passed. The sky turned from orange-pink to blue, and the sun rose up from behind the horizon. They had passed over a patch of ocean and were now, at least according to the map, above the island where the Western Air Temple was located. A few jagged mountain peaks drifted by as the balloon made its path. Nina, who was standing closest to Jin, asked, "So where's the Temple, Jin? Is it on one of these mountains?" Jin looked over the map, sure he had misread it; when he found he hadn't, he said only, "Huh?" Nina and Toph approached, the latter asking, "What's wrong?" He showed them the map. "According to the map, the Air Temple isn't on any of these mountains." He pointed to the symbol that marked the Temple's location. "It says the Temple is by a canyon near the north edge of the island. I guess we should keep flying, and keep our eyes open for a canyon of some kind." Another hour passed. The jagged peaks eventually disappeared, leaving the balloon alone above a blanket of clouds. The balloon descended; underneath the clouds, the mountains had given way to flat land. Some distance away, a canyon was just on the horizon. The balloon continued to drift onward, already beginning its descent.

About ten minutes later, Jin and Toph covered the balloon with an earth dome. They'd landed on a largely flat plain to the south of the canyon. Jin shouldered his pack, and the three set out. They reached the edge of the canyon. Jin looked to the right, and then to the left; there was no sign of the Air Temple. "Well, we're here… but where's the temple?" he asked. As the three began scanning the surroundings, Nina asked, "Do you think it was destroyed?" He replied, "I don't think so. Even if the temple was destroyed three hundred years ago, there should still be debris somewhere." Toph then said, "Maybe we're not thinking about this intuitively enough. The Temple has to be here somewhere." She bent down on one knee. "I'll check with my seismic sense." She put her hand against the ground, then almost immediately withdrew it. Nina and Jin noticed this, and she asked, "Toph, is everything okay?" Toph put her hand against the ground again, visibly shocked. "You're not going to believe this…" she muttered, "… but we're standing right on top of the temple."

"So it's underground?"

"No… it's built under the cliff. It's really amazing." Jin bent down and placed his hand against the ground to see for himself. On the cliff's underside hung numerous structures, like enormous stalactites. Structures had been carved into the cliff wall as well, and numerous paths connecting them honeycombed the cliffside. Jin was stunned, but maintained enough composure to say, "We have to get down there. Do you see any tunnels that go up to where we are?" Toph pressed her hand against the ground and concentrated. "It doesn't look like there's any way down there. That's not a problem though." She stood up, and opened a hole in the ground. The three climbed in, and Toph closed the hole behind them. Nina then said, "I can't see anything." Toph replied sarcastically, "Oh no, what a nightmare!"

"Sorry." There was a sound of sliding earth as Toph pushed the little bubble they stood in downward. After a few minutes the three emerged in a tunnel somewhere in the cliff. They looked around; the tunnel was only marginally brighter than the bubble they emerged from. Nina snapped her fingers, creating a small fire above her hand to get a better view; Jin did likewise. The tunnel showed numerous signs of disuse- the masonry lining the walls was cracked, and crumbling in many places; moss grew from cracks in the walls and floor; and dust covered every conceivable surface and fixture in the hall. "Wow, it doesn't look like anyone's been here in a while," Nina said. Toph replied, "Maybe the airbenders are in a different part of the temple. We should look for a way out." She began walking to the right, and the others followed.

The three came to a ledge overhanging from the cliff wall. The view of the temple was even more stunning than when he first saw it. The structures built on the overhang resembled pagodas, but upside down. Numerous other ledges jutted from the cliff wall; they and the buildings seemed to stretch on forever in both directions. Jin looked around then turned to the other two and said, "I really hate to say this, but we'll have to split up. There's no way we'll be able to cover all this ground if we stay together." He pointed to his left. "Nina, you should check the buildings over there. Toph…" he pointed straight up. "… check up there." He pointed to his right. "I'll check out that side of the temple. We'll meet back here in an hour." The three then split to check each part of the temple.

A few minutes passed, and Jin found himself walking down a path built into the cliff wall. He looked around- the temple was in various states of disrepair, but all were obvious signs that the temple had been abandoned for some time. Just then, Aang's voice said to him, "Jin? Good, you're alone. I was hoping we could talk." Jin said to him, "This place is a mess. It's like no one's lived here for centuries." Aang appeared next to him and sighed. "In my time, this was a beautiful place, filled with airbenders and lemurs and flying bison. Now, it's just a crumbling ruin, a shadow of its former glory."

"Was it because of the war?"

"No. The non-benders never touched the Air Temples during the war. The damage you see here is nothing more than the passage of time. But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I need to talk to you about something, or more specifically, some_one_."

Jin's face reddened slightly. "It's about Toph, isn't it?"

"Yes. You have to understand, there was someone special when I was alive. And I know that-"

"I already know."

Aang looked over at him, confused. "You do?"

"Yeah. Toph's my teacher, and that's all she can ever be, and I can't let myself get too attached to her."

"Actually, that wasn't what I was going to say. It's okay for you to have feelings for Toph, but you can't let them become more important than your mission. Once you defeat the Order, you'll be free to do whatever you wish." A few moments passed, then Aang said, "I can see why you chose her."

Jin looked over at Aang. "What?"

"She's very beautiful. You can see that, can't you? But that's not all. She's strong-willed, and brave, and she's a great bender. Sure, she can be stubborn at times, and putting things lightly isn't something she's strong at, but you can tell that, underneath all that, she really cares about other people, even if she won't admit it." Jin said nothing, but simply stared at Aang. "Sorry," Aang said, "I got a little carried away. You know, it's funny. When I look at you and your friends, I see a little bit of my own friends in all of you."

"Really? Can you tell me about them?"

"Another time. But let me say something: Six hundred years ago, one of my friends asked me if I believed friendships could last more than one lifetime. Now, seeing you and your friends, I'm sure of it. It seems to me that no matter how much time passes, no matter how far apart we become, fate will inevitably bring us back together." He stopped. "You should probably get back to the others. The airbenders that lived here are long gone now." Aang disappeared; Jin complied with his request, and turned back.

The others were already waiting for him at the ledge. As he approached Nina said to him, "Hey, you're back. Any luck?" He replied, "No, nothing. What about you? Did either of you find anything?" Nina folded her arms over her chest. "Other than a big echoey room and a giant Pai Sho table, nothing." Jin turned to Toph. "What about you?" She replied, "I didn't find anything either." She paused momentarily, then said, "Is it just me, or does this place feel… off?" Nina asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know… something about this place just doesn't feel right." She pointed to a nearby building. "Something's up with that building." Nina and Jin looked; the building was fine. "What's wrong with it?" Jin asked. He was answered, not by Toph, but by a loud crack that emanated from the cliff above them. Numerous other cracks sounded above them, and debris began to chip away from the building. Suddenly, the building broke off from the cliff, and tumbled to the bottom of the canyon; after a few moments, a massive smashing sound echoed up from the bottom of the canyon. The three peered over the ledge of the platform; through the fog, they saw the broken remains of the building scattered all over the bottom of the canyon. The three looked at each other wordlessly, then Toph said, "We should get out of here."

A few minutes later, the three were on ground level, walking back to the balloon. The sun had moved to the opposite side of the horizon from when they had arrived. "This was a total waste of time," Nina said. Jin looked back and said to her, "Well, at least it was worth a shot. And don't forget, we still have three other temples to check out. Speaking of which…" He uncovered the balloon, climbed into the basket, and retrieved the map from his pack. He unrolled it and continued, "It looks like we have two options. We can either head to the Northern Air Temple at the north edge of the Earth Kingdom, or we can head to the Southern Air Temple in this group of islands by the South Pole. Your choice." He gave Toph the map; she and Nina looked over it for a few moments, before she said, "I vote we head to the Northern Air Temple." Nina was silent for a few moments before saying, "It doesn't matter to me." Jin took back the map and said, "Well it's settled, then. We're heading out to the Northern Air Temple tomorrow." He then pocketed the map, and began setting up camp.


	12. Chapter XII: The Airbender

Chapter XII: The Northern Air Temple

The three spent the next two days flying to the east. For the first time, they had to fly all through the night; the sun had set while they were still over the ocean, and there was no point to turning back. They'd tried sleeping in shifts to ensure everyone was well-rested, but it had not been enough; Jin and the others spent the next day in a tired haze, and would later have little recollection of that non-eventful day. The breathed a sigh of relief when they finally sighted land that evening; mere moments after they landed, they climbed out of the basket and collapsed, sleeping where they had fallen, not even bothering to hide the balloon. They spent the entirety of the next day sleeping; when they finally awoke, they fired up the balloon again and were on their way.

Later on that morning, Jin manned the rudder and Toph manned the vent; Nina was at the front of the balloon, looking over the map. She held out the map and turned it several ways, clearly confused. "Um… I have no idea where we are," she said. Jin secured the rudder's ropes and he and Toph walked over to see. She laid the map on the basket floor and said, "From the terrain, we could either be here, here, or here." She pointed to patches of land at the southernmost point of a large peninsula, a mountainous region near the equator, and just east of a small gulf south of the equator. All these were on the west half of the eastern continent. Jin looked at their surroundings, then bent down over the map and said, "There's only one problem with that: we aren't anywhere near any mountains." He pointed to the symbol marking the Western Air Temple, then traced a line to the north half of the peninsula Nina pointed to before. "We headed almost directly east, so my guess is that we'd be somewhere over here. Judging from the map, if we keep flying east, we should end up pretty close to the Air Temple."

A few hours passed. Nina, Toph, and Jin sat on the basket floor, trying to relax. The wind was almost nonexistent, so there was no danger of the balloon drifting off course. Jin allowed his mind to wander, and his thoughts eventually settled on Toph. He thought about what Aang had said about her; Toph didn't precisely mirror the attributes that he'd listed. Perhaps, Jin thought, he'd confused her with the Toph that he had known. But still, it was true that Toph was a great earthbender. He looked over at her; as he looked, he began noticing things he hadn't before: She no longer squinted in the light as she had when she first began traveling with him; she had gotten an ever so slight tan over the last few months; her hair had grown slightly longer; her eyes no longer held the coldness they had when they first met; she—

"Jin? Are you feeling alright?" Jin was drawn out of his thoughts. Toph was looking at his with a concerned look on her face. He replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" She looked away. "Well, you were staring at me for two minutes." He looked away as well, to hide the fact that we was blushing. "Oh. I didn't notice. Sorry." Awkward silence settled between them, and the two didn't speak to each other again until they landed; Nina, either out of respect or curiosity, chose not to intervene during that time. Several more hours passed- at sunset, they landed the balloon and set up camp. The silence continued as they sat around their small campfire before Nina finally said, "Jin can I talk to you? In private?" He replied, "Sure," and the two began to walk away from the fire. Once they'd reached a reasonable distance, they stopped, and Jin asked, "Okay, what's this about?"

"Are you willing to answer my question now?"

Jin stared at her, incredulous. "You're asking me about that!? You can't be serious!"

"Look… Jin, I can see that there's… _something_ between you and Toph. You care to explain?"

Jin looked down, face red. "Okay, fine… I just might… possibly have kind-of a little… crush on… Toph. Maybe." His face reddened further.

Nina leaned toward him and smiled. "You do? That's so cute! You two go so well together!" Jin turned an incredibly bright red and turned away from Nina. "Shut up." Nina grabbed Jin's shoulders. "Don't tell me… have you been planning out a declaration of how much you love Toph? Or better yet, you already have the whole thing planned out, don't you?" He brushed off her hands and said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore," before he started walking back to the camp; Nina said to him, "Oh, you're no fun," before she walked back to the campsite as well.

The next day, the three set out again. They spent several hours traveling east before finally coming to a vast mountain range. Jin looked down at the map and said, "We're close. The Northern Air Temple is somewhere in this mountain range." They combed the mountain range for the next several hours, but turned up nothing. Finally, as the sun sank low in the western sky, they sighted something on one of the mountaintops. It was a building, but unlike any building they had ever seen. The structure was built directly onto the mountain, with numerous spires jutting up from the peak. There was only one place the structure could possibly be: the Northern Air Temple. The three gathered at the front of the balloon, and stared in amazement. "Wow," Nina said. "It's so much different from the Western Air Temple." She examined the temple as best as she could from their distance. "Do you see anywhere we can land?" Jin looked as well, and after a few moments, replied, "No. But that's probably a good thing. If there are any airbenders here, I don't think they'd appreciate it if we dropped in uninvited."

"So what's the plan?" Toph asked.

"My guess is that we should land near the base of the mountain and camp for the night. Then we'll make our way up to the temple tomorrow morning." Nina groaned. "Another delay? We don't have time for this! Didn't you say that we had to get to where we're going as soon as possible?" Jin opened the vent, and the balloon began to descend. "I know, but if we just fly in there, what do you think will happen? Avatar Aang said that airbenders aren't known to be violent, but if they get the wrong idea, I don't think the three of us can win a fight against who knows how many airbenders. We should try to be more… _diplomatic_."

"Diplomatic? Just tell them you're the Avatar. That seems to work pretty well for you."

"Well, think about it this way- if we go in there on foot, they'll think that we're more 'lost travelers' than 'invaders.' If we don't look threatening, with any luck, they'll be more willing to hear us out." Nina grumbled something before replying, "Fine. We'll do things your way." The balloon began to descend further.

A few minutes later, the balloon landed in a clearing nestled in a small valley at the base of the mountain. Toph and Jin covered the balloon, then began to set up their camp; unlike usual, Nina didn't help. Jin walked over to her and asked, "Nina, aren't you going to help set up camp?" She said nothing, but glared at him and looked away. "Nina, what's wrong?" Again she said nothing, and turned away from him. "Look Nina, I'll make you a deal. Tomorrow, we'll look for a path that goes up to the temple, and if we can't find one, we'll take the balloon. Happy?" Nina replied only with a grumbled, "No."

"Come on, Nina. You're being ridiculous." At this, she turned around to face him. "Excuse me? I'm being ridiculous? _You're the one being ridiculous!_ Have you forgotten about the Order? Their attack is only a few months away! And how many elements have you learned? Oh, that's right, _two_!"

"We still have four months to prepare."

"And how long do you think that will last?" Nina didn't say anything else to him; later, she wouldn't respond to any of Toph's prompts either. The night passed, but Nina's demeanor had not changed; in fact, when she first woke up the next morning, the only thing she said to Jin was, "I'm still not speaking to you, just so you know." Regardless, the group gathered their supplies and set out to find a path up to the temple. The three made their way around the mountain, with Jin in the front. As they searched, Toph whispered to Nina, "I need to talk to you," and the two fell back so Jin wouldn't overhear. Once they were out of earshot, Nina asked, "What do you want?" Toph replied, "I need to talk to you about Jin."

"_Great._"

"I know that Jin is breaking his own rules, but—"

"You aren't seriously going to defend him, are you? Look at him- it's like he's just making stuff up as he goes along."

"Maybe he does have a plan. Maybe he's trying to find all his teachers, and then spend the rest of the time between when he finds his last teacher and New Year's Day training. Who knows?" A short pause. "Should I ask?"

"If you want." Toph made her back up to Jin and asked, "Jin, can I ask you something?" He replied, "Sure." Toph thought for a few moments, thinking of the best way to phrase her question, and then asked, "Jin, what's your plan? From now until New Year's, I mean?"

Jin lowered his gaze. "I have to admit, I haven't really spent that much time planning. I've been playing around with a few ideas, but I haven't really decided on what to do. There is one thing I'm sure of, though- once I finish training, we need to spend all the time we have left consolidating as much power as we can to our side."

"Huh?"

"If things keep going the way they have, by the time I master all four elements, there'll be five people in our group. And as much as I hate to admit it, there's no way the five of us could take on an entire army, even if I went into the Avatar State. The only chance we'd have of winning against a whole army is if we had an army of our own." He sighted a rocky path that emerged from the mountainside. "Look. There's a path over there. Maybe we can get up that way." The two stopped to let Nina catch up, and the three began climbing the path.

They path they walked on wasn't very large, but seemed to climb all the way to the peak. As they climbed, Jin noticed something and asked, "Toph, is it just me, or did it just get quiet?" She listened. Jin was right- it had suddenly become very quiet. Then, they heard a sound; it sounded like whistling wind, but they didn't feel any wind blowing. "Did you hear that?" Jin asked. Toph replied, "It's just the wind. Let's keep going." The heard the whistle again; Jin listened and determined the sound came from behind them. He looked, but saw nothing except a cave. "Hold up for just a minute…" he said to Toph and Nina. "There's something I want to check." The three stopped and waited. Nina asked, "What are we waiting for?" but Jin shushed her and waited. Finally, a sign emerged- a gust of wind blew from the cave, carrying rocks and dust with it. The gust died down a few moments later. "I knew it," Jin said. "Since when does wind come from _inside_ a mountain? We should check it out." They entered the cave and looked around; the inside was seemingly empty. "There's nothing here," Toph said. "We should get moving."

"But we haven't finished checking this place out. Maybe there's a shortcut up to the temple." He began to go deeper into the cave, but walked into… something. Jin was confused, he felt as though something was blocking the way, but he couldn't see it. "Guys, there's something here." Nina said, "Nice try Jin. You're not fooling anyone." He looked back. "I thought you weren't talking to me." He turned back to the whatever-it-was and knocked on it; it made a dull thumping sound, like something heavy falling to the ground. Toph and Nina approached and touched the wall as well; Toph said, "What's the deal? It's like the air's… stiff or something." Then, the object disappeared; Jin reached out and waved his arm, but made no contact with anything, invisible or otherwise. "What was that?" he asked. Then, he felt Toph tense. "There's someone else here." He focused as well, and sure enough, someone else stood a short distance away from them in the dark. He said to whoever was there, "Come on out. We know you're there, so don't bother trying to hide from us." The person approached, and entered the light.

Jin was not prepared for what he saw next. The person was a boy, about his age and height. He was completely bald, and wore clothes of red and saffron that reminded Jin distinctly of Aang's clothes. The boy asked, "How'd you know I was here?" Toph replied, "Lucky guess. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"This is my secret spot. I come here when I need to train by myself. I'm Yu, by the way." Yu then asked, "Now, if you don't mind, who are you guys?" Jin stepped forward and answered, "I'm Jin, and these are my friends Toph and Nina." Yu bowed and said, "It's nice to meet you," before asking, "What are you guy's doing all the way out here?" This time, Nina answered the question. "Jin's the Avatar. We came here to find someone who can teach him airbending." Jin said, "It's true," and raised a small rock spire and fireball to demonstrate. Yu immediately flew over to Jin, spewing out dozens of questions. "Wow, are you really the Avatar? Do you know Avatar Aang? Can I talk to him? Are your friends benders, too?" Yu went on and on, before Jin finally said to him, "Whoa whoa. Calm down." Yu took a deep breath and said, "Sorry, I just got a little carried away." He paused for a second. "So you need an airbending teacher? I can teach you."

"You can?"

"Well yeah, but not just yet."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, I'm not an airbending master yet. At least not officially." He turned toward the interior of the cave. "Come on. I'll explain it to you on the way up to the temple." He began walking away- the group followed.

"I'm not an airbending master yet, because I haven't passed the test. You see, to become an airbending master, you have to pass thirty-six tiers of airbending, and create your own airbending technique. Tomorrow is when I try to pass the final tier, and when I have to demonstrate my special technique. If I pass, and if the elders accept my technique, then the elders will declare me a master airbender, and the day after tomorrow, I'll get my arrow tattoos." Yu and the group began climbing a set of stairs.

"So I won't be able to start training for two days?"

"Nope. Sorry." Jin replied, "It's fine." A few moments passed, then Jin asked, "So what technique did you make for your test?"

"What? Oh, I made a technique that hardens the air to make a solid wall. Actually, I only made it a couple days ago." Light began to shine in the tunnel they were in, and eventually, they emerged somewhere outside. Jin recognized the buildings, and realized they were within the temple. The central structure of the temple itself extended far above them; in the light, Jin could see the walls of the temple were the color of sand, the roofs a forest green. But Jin had no time to admire the temple further, as Yu was already moving on. The four entered a spire and began climbing another staircase upward. Surprisingly, they passed nobody; this changed, however, when the four reached a large courtyard in the heart of the temple. The courtyard was filled with people dressed much like Yu, some with arrow tattoos: when the four entered, they drew the attention of nearly everyone there. An elderly man in robes of yellow approached them and asked, "Yu, who are these people? You know that bringing travelers here is forbidden without permission from the elders." Yu replied, "I'm sorry, but…" he pointed to Jin. "He's the Avatar. I wasn't sure what to do." The old man raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is there any way for him to prove this?" Jin said nothing, but stepped forward and took a deep breath. Then, he thrust his arm forward, creating a massive jet of flame. He then raised a boulder and knocked into the air, out of the temple.

Seconds later, Jin found himself surrounded by numerous young airbenders; they tugged at his clothes, asking him so many questions that he couldn't distinguish any of them, let alone answer. The elderly monk stepped toward him, and the young airbenders dispersed. "So, you are indeed the Avatar," he said. "You honor us with your presence. I am Master Tenzin, one of the monks that lead the temple. Now tell me, what brings you to our home?" Jin replied, "I came here to find an airbending teacher. I need to master all four elements before New Year's Day." Master Tenzin pointed to Toph and Nina. "And who are these people that are with you?"

"That's Toph and Nina. They're my teachers." Master Tenzin looked at them sternly before turning to Yu and asking, "Have you already agreed to teach the Avatar, Yu? Have you told him about your situation?" Yu replied, "I've already told him about that. You don't have anything to worry about." Tenzin turned back to Jin. "And you've already accepted Yu as your teacher, I presume? I assume you are also aware that he is not qualified to teach you yet."

"I know. I can wait until Yu passes his test."

"It is entirely possible that Yu may not become an airbending master tomorrow. Are you still willing to have him as your teacher?"

"Of course." Tenzin looked at him, then said, "You seem to have the utmost confidence in Yu's abilities. Very well; I'll allow Yu to teach you. You may stay here in the temple as long as you wish." He turned back to Yu. "Yu, why don't you show our guests to their quarters?" Yu turned toward the three then said, "Right. Come this way." He began to walk across the courtyard, and they followed. They entered a large room; the room was packed with machinery, with numerous pipes extending into the walls. One machine let out a loud hiss, and steam poured from a vent at the top. Toph asked, "What are those for?" referring to the machines. He replied, "Those machines are steam engines. Some mechanist built them into the temple a couple hundred years ago, and we've kept them ever since. We use them for power. Since we're on the subject, let me show you something. Come on." He began walking toward a platform on the left side of the room. He stepped on, but Jin and the others didn't follow. "Well? Get on," he said. The three obeyed and stepped on. "Now get ready." He pulled a lever on the wall.

The platform immediately raced to the top of the room. Jin immediately felt a force pushing him downward on the platform; then, it stopped, and he was thrown off balance. Yu turned back to them and said, "Pretty fun, right?" Jin was unnerved to respond; Toph likewise. Only Nina answered, saying, "Uh… _yeah_. _Fun_." Yu stepped off the platform. "Come on. Your room's this way." The three followed him down a hall, up yet another flight of stairs, and down another hall. Yu stopped in front of a door, and knocked on it. When there was no answer, he pushed it open. Beyond was a small room, but a magnificent view of the mountains surrounding the temple dominated the far wall. The room itself, with the exception of four beds, two pushed against the left and right walls, the room was empty. Jin, Toph, and Nina stepped into the room, stunned to silence. "Don't let it go to your head," Yu said. "All the bedrooms are like this. You get used to it eventually." Nina flopped down on one of the beds. "I can't believe it. A real bed! I must be dreaming." Yu turned. "I'll let you guys rest for a little while. You all look like you need it." He turned and left to let the three get some rest.


	13. Chapter XIII: Tattoos

Chapter XIII: Tattoos

The day passed without incident. The next morning, Jin woke up feeling very well-rested. Almost immediately, he noticed the room was freezing; suddenly, sleeping in a room with a giant open window didn't seem like such a great idea. He looked at Nina and Toph- both were still sleeping. He approached Toph's bed, and tapped her shoulder. Toph grumbled and curled into a ball. "Nng… sleeping. Go away." She sat up anyway, then immediately wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. "It's so cold." She climbed out of bed, still shivering. Jin walked to Nina's bed and tapped her shoulder as well. Unlike Toph, she sat up and stretched without complaint. Jin was confused at first, before he saw Nina exhale a small ball of fire just before climbing out of bed. He figured it was some sort of special firebending technique that Nina hadn't taught him. She said simply to them, "Good morning, Jin. Good morning, Toph." They replied, "Good morning," then Toph said, "I guess we should look for Yu, shouldn't we?" Jin and Toph agreed, and the three made their way to the door. Jin pulled it open.

Yu was already waiting for them in the hall outside. When he saw the door open, he perked up and said, "Hey, you're awake. I've been waiting out here all morning." He almost immediately began walking down the hall. "Come on. I need to get to the sanctum so I can take my test." They followed him down the flight of stairs back into the steam engine room. They descended on the platform, being thrown off balance when it stopped. As they proceeded, Jin heard Toph mumble, "I'm never going to get used to that." They went left, to a door across from the main entrance; as they proceeded, Jin noticed two adult monks standing in front of a machine leaking large amounts of steam. As they passed, Jin heard one of the monks say, "… we'll have to shut it off until the merchants come back in…" they fell out of earshot.

"You're wondering about that steam engine aren't you?" Yu asked, noticing Jin's interest. "Well, a lot of these machines are pretty old- some have been here since well before the war. And it takes a lot to keep them running. But there's a group of merchants that travels into town every few weeks and buys supplies we need to fix up the machines." Toph asked, "Merchants? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Actually, the merchants are a group of earthbenders who stumbled across the temple a few years ago. We worked out a deal with them- they go into towns and get supplies, while we give them food and a place to stay."

"Where do you get money to buy supplies?" Nina asked.

"That's easy- we make gliders."

"Huh?"

"Well, a while ago, some monks found blueprints for a special glider that doesn't need airbending to fly. We started making them and, before the earthbenders showed up, we'd go into town ourselves to sell them. They're really popular- and best of all, no one asks questions." Jin noticed they were now walking down an open hallway. The floor was adorned with enormous swirls of light and dark blue, like the yin-yang symbol. Based on the direction, they seemed to be headed to the heart of the temple. Yu stopped in front of an enormous wooden door; the door itself had three large spirals arranged in a circle, with a wooden circle in the center of each spiral. The entire design was flanked by pipes ending in what appeared to be horns. Yu stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. Then, he stepped forward and pushed his arms toward the door; a gust of wind blew at the door, into the horns. A circle in one of the spirals turned, revealing a horn blowing a particular note. The other two turned, each horn blowing in a higher note. Then, there was a massive creak, and the door swung open.

"This is as far as you guys can go." Yu looked back at the three. "Only me and the elders are allowed in the sanctum during the test. But don't wait for me. Go. Check out the temple. I'll find you when I'm done." Yu began to walk into the sanctum; when he crossed the threshold, the massive door swung shut behind him. Jin, Toph, and Nina stood in front of the door in silence. "What should we do now?" Jin asked. Toph replied, "I guess we should check out the temple. Let's split up. We'll meet back in our room in a few hours."

A few hours passed. Jin hurried down the hall to the room, darted inside, and shut the door firmly behind him. Toph, who was already in the room, said to him, "You seem to be in a hurry, Jin. What's wrong?" Jin leaned against the door, trying to catch his breath, and after a few moments, replied, "It's those kids. They won't leave me alone. All they do is follow me around asking me questions about Aang." Jin crossed the room to his bed. "Well, who can blame them?" Toph asked. "You're the Avatar. You're being guided by Aang right now. You know, the guy who saved the world from the Fire Nation six hundred years ago? With you, it's almost like talking to Aang himself." She looked over, noticing a staff slung across Jin's back. "What is that?"

"This? It's a glider." Jin sat down, pulled the staff from his back, and snapped his wrist; a large pair or wings sprung out from the staff between the top and the center, along with a smaller pair near the bottom. "One of the kids that were following me around gave it to me."

"That was nice of them."

Jin snapped his wrist again, and the wings folded back into the staff. "I know, but still. I did get to find a nice spot near the top of the temple, though."

"That's nice." She then asked, "Have you used that glider yet?"

"No. To be honest, it makes me a little nervous. The kid who gave it to me said it was the kind that didn't need airbending to fly, but I'd rather not take my chances until Yu comes back." The door creaked open, and Nina stepped into the room. "Hey guys. Jin, there's a bunch of kids out there looking for you." Jin buried his face in his hands. "Oh no. Why won't they just leave me alone?" Nina looked over. "Are you kidding? You have fans following you around. _Actual fans_. I can't even count the number of people I knew who'd kill to have fans." Just then, Yu flew into the room through the window on a glider of his own. He snapped it shut and looked at the three of them solemnly. The three stared back. Then, a massive smile cracked across Yu's face. Jin quickly put the facts together, but Nina asked before he did, "You passed your test, didn't you?" Yu said nothing, but continued smiling. He then took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "_I did it! I finally did it! I'm an airbending master!_ It took five months, but the elders _finally accepted my technique! Yes!_" Toph raised an eyebrow. "Five months?"

"Well, while they're training, an airbender can create a technique at any point and show it to the elders. I tried before, but they rejected all my techniques. But that doesn't matter now. I'm finally getting my tattoos, and then I'll be ready to teach you."

* * *

Another day passed. Just as before, the four walked to the door to the sanctum. He opened it, and turned to say, "Sorry guys, but it's the same as last time. Only I'm allowed in there." Yu walked into the sanctum, and the door once again swung closed behind him. Nina turned to the other two and asked, "Well, what should we do today?" Jin replied, "I know this might sound crazy, but I was thinking I should get some firebending training in before I start airbending." Toph crossed her arms. "_Only_ firebending?"

"Okay, I'll put in a little earthbending, too. And I found the perfect place, too. Come on." He spent the next several minutes leading them through the temple; finally after several minutes, he pushed open a door at the top of a long spiral staircase. Beyond was a small garden populated by a small number of trees. The garden was surrounded by a low wall, but this did not impede, the near-circular view of the surrounding mountains. Jin said to Toph and Nina, "This is the place I found yesterday. I was hoping it would be empty so I could train here." Nina stretched, and then said, "Alright, for this lesson, I'll teach you how to--"

"Actually," Jin interrupted, "I was hoping you could teach me a specific technique."

"Um… I guess that would be okay. Which technique?"

"Well, back on Roku's Island, in the tournament, you used a really weird move to win the final round. I want to learn that one." Nina thought for a moment. "Huh. I used it in the tournament… in the last round… oh! I think you're talking about this move." She walked a few steps away from him and Toph, and took a deep breath. Then, she traced a large arc in the air in front of her- as she did, a line of electricity appeared on the path her fingertips made. She did the same with the other hand, the two arcs forming a full circle. Nina then thrust her arm through the center of the circle. A massive, brilliant bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips, extending far into the distance and darkening everything for a few brief moments. A wide smile cracked across Jin's face. "That's it. That's the technique. You have to teach it to me." Nina turned to face him. "I'm not sure that would be such a good idea."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Lightning is a branch of firebending, but it's much more advanced than anything I've taught you so far. It's also one of the most dangerous techniques of all firebending."

"Nina if I'm going to be strong enough to take down the Order, then I need to learn everything I can about the four bending styles. At the very least, I have to try."

Nina sighed. "Very well. I'll try to teach you." She beckoned, and Jin approached her. She continued, "As I said, lightning is entirely derived from firebending. But unlike other techniques in firebending, creating lightning requires complete peace of mind." She paused. "Before I continue, I need to ask you something. What do you know about energy?"

"Energy? Um… I know that there're two kinds of energy. There's yin- positive energy, and yang- negative energy."

"Precisely. A certain number of firebenders have the ability to separate the positive and negative energy in their bodies. This separation creates an imbalance that the energy will try to fix. Then, the positive and negative energy comes crashing back together- the collision creates tremendous amounts of energy, and this energy leaves the body as lightning." Nina paused momentarily, and then asked, "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand. I think I'm ready to try it." She took a few steps back, and then said, "Alright. First, focus on clearing your mind. This is critical to create lightning." Jin nodded, closed his eyes, and began trying to clear his mind of emotion. After he took several deep breaths, Nina asked, "Is your mind clear?" Jin nodded and opened his eyes. "Good. Now, try to separate the positive and negative energy in your body." Jin began to focus, but Nina interrupted one last time, saying, "Firebending is wild and unpredictable, and this is even more apparent with lightning. Remember, if you manage to create lightning, you do not control it- you can only provide it guidance." Jin nodded again, and began focusing as before. He tried to feel the energy in his body separate into two halves. He thought he felt something, and mimicked Nina's actions- he drew a circle in the air, and thrust his arm forward.

Then, an explosion burst in front of Jin, throwing him painfully against the ground. He struggled to his feet, confused. When he was upright, Nina said to him, "That looked painful. But there is a bright side to this- the fact that an explosion happened at all means you can separate the energy in your body. But the explosion also means that your mind wasn't fully clear. You need to completely empty your mind of emotion. Do that before you try again."

Jin tried again. And again. And again. And every time, he failed. After the fourth time (Fifth? Sixth? Third? Jin couldn't remember anymore), he sat up, held his head in his hands, and said, "I don't get it. Why can't I do it? I did everything you told me to." Nina pulled him to his feet and said, "No. There's still something in there, something you're not letting go of. What is it?" Jin looked away. "I'm afraid, okay?"

"Afraid of what?"

"A lot of things. The Order, my airbending training, getting captured, my feelings about-" Jin stopped and clapped his hands over his mouth to keep from saying anything else.

"Your feelings about what?" Jin replied quickly, "Never mind. But there are a lot of things. And you just expect me to let all of them go?"

"If you really want to master this, then you have to." Jin didn't reply; he was already clearing his mind. His fears, his doubts, his uncertainties… he purged them and every last thought from his mind. He took a few steps forward and readied himself; as he traced the lines in the air in front of him, lines of electricity followed his movements. When the circle was complete, Jin thrust his arm through the center- at that moment, a massive bolt of lightning shot from his fingertips. The bolt was massive- much larger than Nina's- and shot over to a mountain nearby, blasting a large hole in it. Stunned silence fell between the three- as hard as he tried, Jin could not force himself to say a single word. Finally, Nina said to him, "Impressive. But I bet you can't do it again." Jin took a deep breath, purged his mind of all thoughts, and repeated his actions from before. He thrust out his arm- a lightning bolt emerged, but it lacked the power of the first bolt.

"I suppose I should congratulate you- after all, there aren't very many who can… well, I can't say _master_, but _create_ lightning. But keep in mind, that's still a very dangerous technique, and you don't know as much about it as I do. I'll teach you more later. But for now, we should go over everything I taught you so far."

A few hours passed. Jin's knowledge of firebending was reinforced considerably, though at the end, Nina told him he still had a lot to learn. As Jin began his earthbending training, Yu flew down to the garden on his glider. As he snapped his glider shut, Jin noticed the arrow tattoos on Yu's head and hands, but also the near-imperceptible winces of pain Yu made with every movement. "Hey guys," he said to them. "This is a nice place isn't it?" Jin replied, "Yeah. So, you're an airbending master now?" He pointed to Yu's tattoos.

"Yeah. Actually, I was kind of hoping we could start your training today, but… getting these tattoos _really_ hurt. But the elders said I should be fine tomorrow. So we'll start training then." There was a short pause, then Jin said, "You know, I hate to sound like I'm going off topic, but I've been meaning to ask you something: How old are you? Becoming an airbending master at your age is pretty impressive."

"I'm thirteen. But that's nothing- Avatar Aang was a whole year younger than I am when he became an airbending master." Yu then sat down, crossed his legs, rested his hand in his lap, and closed his eyes. The three looked at him before Nina asked, "What are you doing?" Yu opened one eye. "Meditating. The monks told me that having inner peace helps in airbending- meditating is one way that clears your head." He closed his eye again. "You guys can keep going with whatever you were doing. It won't bother me, really." Jin was just about to resume his training when Yu interrupted one last time, asking, "When I was on my way here, I heard some people talking about some lightning around the temple. Do you guys know anything about that?" Jin looked over at Nina- she shook her head. Jin looked back and replied, "No. We don't." Yu took a deep breath and said, "Alright," before falling silent.


	14. Chapter XIV: Bitter Work

Chapter XIV: Bitter Work

The next morning, Jin awoke with a feeling of muted excitement. He supposed, perhaps, that he should have been more excited- after all, he was going to start learning airbending, and after that, there would be only one element left to master: water. He climbed out of bed and stretched, wondering how his lessons would go. He looked around; the others were still sleeping. Then, someone said to him, "I didn't think of you as an early riser." Jin looked at the source- somehow, he had overlooked Yu, who was sitting on the one free bed. Jin said to him, "And they complain about me waking up early. So, are you ready?" Yu stood up. "I'm ready, and I found the perfect place for us to train, too. The question is, are _you_ ready?"

"Of course! Let's get going." Yu and Jin left the room as quietly as they could. After they exited, Yu began to lead Jin through the temple. As they walked, Jin asked, "So what exactly are we going to do?" Yu thought for a moment, and then replied, "I guess we'll start with the basics. I have to admit, there isn't much to airbending- once you first figure out how to move the air, everything else is pretty easy." A few minutes passed, and Yu and Jin entered a large open space outside the temple. The space was a large, flat field, and would have been otherwise unremarkable were it not for two very tall posts ending in rings that stood at each end of the field. Before Jin could ask, Yu said, "This place is a flying bison polo field. Those poles with the rings way up there are the goals. Nobody really uses this place since we don't have any flying bison here, but it'll be perfect for training." As Yu stretched, Jin asked, "No flying bison here? Are there flying bison at the other temples?" Yu replied, "I don't know. I heard some of the elders talking one time about how there might be flying bison at the other temples, but no one here's gone to see." Yu shook his head. "Sorry, need to focus on the lesson. Right, where to begin?" He rubbed his chin and thought for a few moments, mumbling something Jin couldn't make out. Then, Yu said, "Okay, this is the most basic of basic techniques. You just push the air and make a breeze. Like this."

Yu readied himself, pulled his arm back, and thrust it forward- when he did, a strong wind emanated from his palm and blew across the field. The wind blew for a few seconds before dying away. Yu stood straight, and then said, "Now you try it." Jin nodded, and readied himself. He focused, pulled back his arm like Yu, and thrust it forward. But nothing happened. Confused, Jin tried again; again, nothing happened. Yu noticed and said to Jin, "You can't expect to master this right away. Your best chance would be to take this slowly." Jin tried again a few more times, to the same effect as before. Yu thought for a moment. "Hmm… Maybe we should try something else." Jin looked back. "No. Let's keep trying with this. I'm sure I'll get it eventually."

"Hold on. _That's_ part of your problem: you're not thinking like an airbender. The monks told me that the philosophy of airbending is that there's never just one way to do something- a lot of techniques can be done with different ways, but they'll still have the same effect. Why don't you try this?" Yu readied himself again, but this time made a swiping motion with his arm- this made a large arc of air that flew a short distance away from him. Yu stepped aside; Jin readied himself, focused, and repeated Yu's action, but as before, nothing happened. Jin swung his arm several more times, focusing as hard as he could, but still nothing happened. Yu was silent in thought for a few moments, before saying, "You know, it might help if you add more movements. Part of airbending comes from building up inertia, and the more inertia you build up, the stronger the airbending techniques become." To demonstrate, Yu whirled in a wide circle before thrusting out his arm like the first time. A powerful wind blew across the field, and quickly died away. Again, Yu stepped aside to let Jin try. "Do I have to?" Jin asked, "It looks ridiculous." Yu said nothing, but motioned for Jin to try. Jin sighed, stepped forward, and copied Yu's actions. It came as no surprise to him when, yet again, nothing happened.

The remainder of the lesson was much the same way. It seemed that no matter how many movements Jin made, he couldn't force the air to work for him. He went to bed that night feeling frustrated at his lack of progress. He didn't understand- for a fleeting instance, he supposed he wasn't, and would never be, an airbender. He quickly shook off such a ridiculous notion- he was the Avatar, the _master of all four elements_- and that meant he was an airbender just as much as he was an earthbender and a firebender.

But the next two days would shake his faith. For over those next two days, he again made no progress. Which meant three days had passed. Three days without results. On the third night, he laid in his bed, unable to sleep. He listened as the wooden bed of one of his companions groaned as the weight of its occupant shifted to a more comfortable position. He tried to will himself to sleep, but it didn't work; Jin simply lay in his bed, not so much resting as he was waiting. Finally, he could stand it no longer. He sat up, and as quietly as he could, climbed out of his bed, and slunk out the door.

Yu glided silently into the room early the next morning. The air was cold, and the surrounding mountains were bathed in the pink light of the rising sun. Yu landed, snapped his glider shut, and looked around the room. He noticed something was off, and counted to himself, "One… two…" And that was it. Other than himself, there were only two other people in the room. And it didn't take too long for him to figure out who was missing. He went to Toph's bed and tapped her shoulder, saying, "Toph. Toph wake up." She curled up and mumbled, "Go away, Jin. It's too early" Yu ignored this and said bluntly to her, "Jin's missing."

Toph immediately sat bolt upright in her bed. "_What?_" She asked incredulously. "But he was here last night." She got up, crossed the room, and roused Nina. "Nina, wake up," she said. "Jin's gone." Nina grumbled back, "Has it occurred to you that he might have just went to the bathroom?" before she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Toph shook Nina. "Nina. Get up. This is serious. We have to find him."

Nina sat up. "Fine. So what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. We should probably split up."

"That sounds like a good idea," Yu said. "Toph, you should check the west part of the temple. Nina, you take the north part. I'll check out the east part of the temple. We'll meet up here again in an hour if we don't find him." Yu then unsnapped his glider, and tossed it out the window- he leapt after it, grabbed hold of it, and adjusted himself before flying away. Toph and Nina looked after him other wordlessly and left the room as well.

A few minutes later, Toph stood at the edge of the courtyard, pondering where she should look for Jin. She was brought out of her musings by a small clattering noise- had the courtyard not been deserted at this hour, it otherwise wouldn't have drawn her attention. She looked down at the source- a small stone. As she bent down to pick it up, there was another clattering noise and another stone bounced into view. She looked around, and noticed for the first time that her half of the courtyard was littered with small stones. She looked up to see a few stones falling from above. They seemed to be coming from a large balcony near the top of one of the central towers. So, Toph stood up straight and began to make her way to the source.

* * *

_Crack_. _Crack_. _Crack_.

As Toph climbed the stairs up the tower, she became aware of a periodic _crack_ that echoed down from the top. Eventually, she reached an open door near the top of the tower; as she approached a particularly loud _crack_ reverberated from beyond. She peered around the door frame; beyond was a garden- the very same garden Jin had showed them only a few days before. But more importantly, beyond the door was Jin himself. He was turned away from her, overlooking the temple grounds. He held a large stick; he stomped the ground, a small stone shooting up in response. As soon as it reached a certain height, he swung at the stone- it hit dead on, sending the stone flying and emitting a resonating _crack_. Toph finally stepped out into the garden and said, "Jin." He looked back, revealing his eyes were bloodshot. "Hey," he said in reply, and launched up another stone. _Crack_. She walked over to him. "Yu told us you were gone. The others are looking for you." _Crack_.

"Is that right?" _Crack_.

"Jin, something's bothering you, isn't it?" _Crack_.

"I don't want to talk about it." _Crack_.

"You do know that's your problem, right?" _Crack_. "Yu told me about your lessons yesterday." _Crack_.

"Did he tell you that I haven't accomplished anything over the last three days?" _Crack_.

Toph sighed. "Yeah." _Crack_. "Look, I know things are hard for you right now, but Yu's just trying to help. You know that, don't you?"

"I know, I _know_!" Jin stomped, raising a stone, and swung especially hard at it, but rather than being sent flying, it lodged itself firmly in the stick. He dropped it and said, "I know. Yu told me I had to 'let go.' But how am I supposed to do that? I don't even know what that means!" Toph though for a few moments, then said, "Let me put it this way: if water and fire are opposites, then what would the opposite of earth be?"

"I guess it would be air."

"That's why this is so hard for you. You're working with your natural opposite." She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that if you keep working at it, you'll get it eventually."

Jin's face reddened slightly. "You really think so?"

Toph smiled at him. "Of course I do. You're a talented kid." Jin smiled back and quickly looked away, blushing. There was a wind-like sound, and Yu flew down into the garden, snapping his glider shut when he landed. Toph quickly let go of Jin's shoulder when she saw him. Yu walked over, saying "So you managed to find Jin. Good." He then said to Jin, "We need to start your training. Are you ready?" Jin turned to him, straightened up, and replied, "I'm ready." He was surprised- the few words Toph had said to him couldn't possibly have warranted the confidence he felt now… could they? Yu readied himself and said, "Remember the first thing I taught you." He repeated the first movement Jin had learned- he pulled back his arm and thrust it forward, creating a gust of wind. Jin repeated his actions, focusing as hard as he could, but when he thrust out his arm, nothing happened. Jin felt incredibly disappointed; even after all his effort, still nothing had changed. Yu shook his head. "Still nothing? That's a shame." He walked a short distance away. "If you can't learn anything from me…" he stopped. "Then I suppose you are of no use to me."

He immediately turned and swung his arm, sending a large arc of air toward him; Jin immediately raised a rock wall to block it, and then shoved the wall at Yu. He bent the air currents around him, and pushed himself upward, jumping over the wall, and launched several more air swipes at him. Jin jumped out of the way, taking a deep breath, and when he righted himself, launched several fireballs at Yu. Yu spun his arms in two large circles around himself, the air following, and the fireballs immediately dispersed. Before Yu could recover, Jin raised several rocks and launched them- however, Yu created a large sphere of wind around him and the rocks bounced off it harmlessly. Yu moved hands in a small circle and thrust them forward, launching a small cyclone at Jin. Jin raised another rock wall, but the cyclone punched through the wall and hit him squarely in the chest. He flew back and hit the ground hard. Jin quickly sprung to his feet, and the battle continued.

Jin thought furiously, trying to figure out how he was supposed to gain the upper hand. The techniques he knew were powerful, but were no match for the sheer speed of Yu's techniques. Jin then remembered something- Yu had told him that airbending techniques relied on inertia… He figured it out. He somehow had to get Yu to stop moving. He watched Yu, waiting for an opening- finally, Yu began to whirl his entire body around, building up for a powerful attack. It was Jin's chance. He raised up a rock, grabbed it, took a deep breath, and concentrated all the energy he could muster into his feet. Finally, Yu unleashed a powerful blast of wind- at that moment, Jin stomped, igniting a jet of flame at the bottom of his feet that launched him into the air, over the air blast. He reached back, and hurled the rock at Yu. Rather than blocking it, Yu simply jumped out of the way, but the effort threw him off balance. It was all Jin needed. He clenched his hand into a fist, and immediately the earth Yu stood on gripped his feet. Thrown off balance by the sudden stop, he fell onto his stomach, where the earth gripped Yu's wrists as well.

Jin landed, and was about to take another deep breath to charge a firebending technique when he noticed that Yu wasn't struggling. Yu said to him, "Excellent work, Jin. That firebending technique you used to dodge my attack was amazing. But that's not all." Jin asked, "Really? And why is that?"

"If you let me go, I'll tell you." Jin unclenched his fists; the earth holding down Yu's limbs sank back into the ground. Yu stood up, massaging one of his wrists, and said, "I remember you used that technique before, but just now you used it in a completely different way. Using techniques in new ways, and to your advantage, shows flexibility and imagination- traits absolutely vital for airbending. You have what it takes. Do it."

"But-"

"_Do it!_" Jin recoiled, but quickly recovered and readied himself. He took a deep breath and focused. He held his arms in front of his chest, moved them in the circle he saw Yu make, and thrust them forward; a small cyclone flew from his hands and continued for a few feet before dispersing. Behind him, he heard Yu applaud. "Congratulations, Jin. You're an airbender."


	15. Chapter XV: Captured

Chapter XV: Captured

Eleven days passed. In that time, Jin was determined to learn as much as he could about airbending. On the fourth day, Yu brought Jin to the garden for training. When they arrived, Yu said to him, "I brought you here to show you a few techniques. There's only two, but they're not like the ones I've taught you so far." Jin asked, "Really? What makes them different?"

"Do you remember what I told you? About how it took me five months before the elders accepted my technique. These two techniques are why. I demonstrated them, but the elders rejected both of them, because they broke the most important rules of airbending."

"And what rule is that?"

"The most important rule of airbending… is that lethal moves are absolutely forbidden. And both of my techniques are very lethal."

"Then why…"

"I know the monks are trying to preserve our traditions, but let's be serious. I know how the world really is, and there's no place for idealism. When we go out there… we have to be ready to kill if it comes to that."

"We? Then…"

"Yes. I decided that when you and your friends leave, I'm going with you."

Jin looked at Yu's tattoos and said to him, "I think there might be a problem with that." Yu looked down at the arrow tattoos on the back of his hands. "I've already started planning for that. I'll wear gloves. I'll grow my hair out. I'll do whatever it takes to hide that I'm an airbender." He looked back at Jin. "But we can worry about that when the time comes. We should focus on your training." He walked toward Jin, then turned to face the ledge of the garden. Yu pointed; Jin followed his finger to several small logs set up in a row on the wall along the garden's edge. "This is my first technique," Yu said. "I call it the wind scythe. It works just an air swipe, but the air is compressed down to a razor's edge."

Yu then drew back his arm, and swung it in a wide arc, much like for an air swipe, but had a single finger extended. A narrow, near-invisible arc of air formed from Yu's movement, flew across the garden, and sliced one of the logs cleanly in two. Yu stepped aside to allow Jin to try. Jin drew back his arm, and swung it in a wide arc, finger extended. An arc of air flew from his arm and across the courtyard, and viciously struck one of the logs, blasting it into splinters. "Not a bad start, I suppose," Yu said, "but it's supposed to be compressed into a cutting edge. Try again." Jin nodded, concentrated, and swung his arm again; the arc that emerged was narrower than before, and sliced a log in two rather than completely destroying it, but still tore away a large part of the log when it made contact. "That was better. We'll work more on that later, but for now, let's move on to the next technique."

Yu held out his arm straight out in front of him, and began moving his hand in a small circle. As he did, air began gathering around it, and eventually, Yu's hand was obscured by a cone of rapidly spinning air. Yu then said to Jin, "I call this technique the wind drill. You want to know how I came up with the idea? I was thinking one day, and I realized that airbending has virtually no close range techniques. So, I made this to compensate." Yu swung his arm at a nearby tree- the wind drill left a long gash in its bark. He looked back; Jin understood, held out his own arm, and moved his hand in a small circle. The air gathered around his hand, and as Jin focused, it solidified into a drill, though it didn't possess the smooth spin of Yu's. Jin swung his arm around a few times to ensure the drill would hold before slashing at the tree as well. As Jin dispersed the air around his hand, Yu said to him, "You want to know something? When I first showed these techniques to the elders, they weren't surprised. They were horrified, of course, but they weren't surprised. They told me that I was little, they saw… _something_ in me- they didn't know exactly what, but they knew there was something there that made me different from the other children. They thought, because my nature was in such diametric opposition to the philosophy behind airbending, that I wouldn't be able to bend at all. But I learned, and that's when the problems started."

"What kind of problems?" Jin asked.

"Well, normally, airbenders have a strict code of non-violence. You can see that in most airbending techniques, but even then, most airbenders won't get into a fight if they can help it. …I'm not like that. I like fighting. No, I _love_ fighting. And when I really get into a fight, I… _change_. The elders don't like that, so I have to do all this meditating to keep my mind calm." Yu shook his head. "I'm sorry to bother you will all that. We should keep going with the lesson."

That night, as Jin laid in his bed, he heard a voice say to him, "It looks like your airbending training is going well. I'm glad." Jin replied, "Aang. I though you forgot about me."

"Not at all. I just thought it would be better if I didn't intervene. But there's something I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Not here. Head up to that garden. I'll tell you there." Aang fell silent. As quietly as he could, Jin climbed out of bed, and exited the room. Once he made his way to the garden, Jin asked, "Alright, I'm here. Now what's this all about?" Aang appeared and replied, "There's a technique I want to tell you about. It's a special technique I made myself to pass the test." He sighed. "Ugh. Sometimes I miss having a body. If I could bend, showing this would be so much easier. I guess I'll just have to try and explain it as best as I can. First, you have to hold out your arms, like this…"

Aang explained the rest of the technique. Jin followed his instructions as best as he could; Aang was frustrated numerous times because he couldn't demonstrate the proper technique. Jin worked all night, perfecting the technique. Finally, in the early hours of the morning as the pinkish light of the sun appeared on the horizon, Jin finally got figured it out. Just then, the door to the garden opened. "Jin, I think you're doing a little too well to be depressed again," he heard Toph say to him. He turned to her and replied, "I'm sorry, but Avatar Aang wanted to show me a technique. I've been working on it all night. I'll show it to you." Jin held up his arms and rapidly moved them in a large circle, creating a ball of air between them. Once it was large enough, he lowered it onto the ground and jumped on, carefully maintaining balance on top of the ball. Jin manipulated the air currents in the ball so that it moved toward Toph, and stopped in front of her.

"Aang called this the air scooter. He taught it to me so I could show Yu." Toph looked down at the air scooter and said, "That's pretty impressive. But what's it supposed to do?" Jin scratched his head. "Well, um… it moves… really fast and… um…"

"Hey Jin, when did you learn the air scooter?" He looked over saw Yu standing in the doorway." Jin replied, "Avatar Aang taught it to me last night. How do you know about it?"

"A lot of the airbenders here know how to do it. Come on, I'll teach you how to use it."

* * *

A few days passed. Jin was again at the garden. He said, "Um… hi, Toph. Listen, I know this might seem… _sudden_, but I… well, how do I say this? …I like you. I… _really_ like you. And I… I wanted to know if you felt the same way about me." He looked over at who he was talking to- the lemur sitting there cocked its head, confused. "Well!? What's your answer!?" The lemur hopped onto Jin's head, then flew away. He slouched and mumbled, "Yeah, that's what I'd say, too."

"Well _I'd_ say you're trying too hard," someone said. Jin let out a yelp of surprise and spun to see who was there. Nina was leaning against the doorway into the garden, smiling. She stood up straight and walked toward him- as she did, Jin asked, "Well what do you suggest?"

"That's easy. Just go up to Toph and say whatever comes to your mind."

"But what if I say something embarrassing?"

"So what? Even if you're the Avatar, you're still only human. Just apologize and move on. If you want, I can help you and Toph meet up so you can tell her." Jin turned away from Nina. "I appreciate what you're trying to do Nina, but I don't need you to play matchmaker for me. I can handle this on my own."

"You call practicing your 'anguished declaration of love' in front of a lemur handling the situation?"

"Look, just let me handle this my own way, okay?" Nina began to leave. "Fine. But I was only trying to help you." She left Jin to be alone.

* * *

The remainder of the days passed. In that time, Jin learned to use a glider, mastered the air scooter, and learned a multitude of other techniques. On the night of the eleventh day, Jin and the others were roused from sleep by a tolling bell. They didn't need anyone to tell them what the bell meant. The Order had found them. They climbed out of bed as quickly as they could, and made their way to the courtyard. In the darkness, they could see a massive airship drifting toward the temple from the south. The airship was massive, much larger than any Jin and the others had seen, and painted black to match the darkness of the sky. It drifted silently toward the temple, and hovered silently above the courtyard before a ramp extended to the ground. The metallic ramp clattered noisily against the stone of the courtyard before finally coming to a rest.

A light at the top of the ramp shone, and from it emerged three people- a man flanked by two others. The three were heavily armored, but while the other two wore helmets, the middle man did not. They walked slowly down the ramp, and when they reached the courtyard, the man in the middle said to everyone who had gathered in the courtyard, "We know he's here." He paused. "Our sources have told us you're hiding the Avatar here. We suggest you cooperate and hand over the Avatar peaceably." There was no reply. "So you won't give him to us. That's fine. We'll just have to raze this temple to the ground until we find him." At that moment, one of the airbenders stepped forward and hurled a cyclone of air at the three- the central and right man avoided it, but the left man was hit full on from the force of the attack. The central man mumbled, "So that's the way it is," before shouting, "Men! Attack, now!" Soldiers flooded down the ramp; in addition, several ropes dropped from the airship, which even more soldiers slid down. The soldiers, impossibly, began throwing back bending attacks of their own in retaliation.

A battle ignited. Jin, Toph, and Nina joined the fray against the Order soldiers. But in the fighting, Jin was separated from the others, and found himself surrounded by several soldiers. He began throwing every technique he could, but the soldiers wouldn't stop coming. Suddenly, Jin's eyes began to glow, and strong gusts of wind began to blow around him in a circle. He rose into the air, wind blowing furiously around him. He lifted his arms, and began swinging them in wide arcs, knocking away the soldiers with the air swipes he created. Jin slowly advanced, still batting soldiers from his path, until he was finally face to face with their leader. The wind died down, and the soldiers surrounded Jin in a half-circle; one tried to attack, but without even looking, Jin swung his arm, and a rock spire struck the soldier, knocking him several feet away. The remaining soldiers remained a respectful distance away from him.

"The Avatar," the man said with a smirk. Jin said nothing and simply stared back, his eyes glowing in their horrible splendor, his face twisted into an expression on unfathomable rage. "So you _are_ still alive after all this time," the man continued. "How wonderful. You're very valuable to our organization. You know that, don't you?" Jin readied himself. "I can see you're not willing to negotiate. That is unfortunate." The man thrust his arm at Jin, and a jet of fire emerged; Jin waved his arm, knocking the jet off course. The man did this several more times, and Jin deflected each one. The man thrust both arms, making an even more massive jet of flame; Jin swung both arms, and redirected the flame around him. As the flames cleard, Jin noticed the man was holding something very unusual. It resembled a long metal tube with a wooden handle, but before Jin could analyze it further, fire flashed from the end of the barrel.

At that moment, something struck Jin. Hard. The force of the impact brought him out of the Avatar State instantly. Jin then became aware of a burning sensation in his right shoulder. He looked; the portion of his shirt there had been torn away, and a large stain was rapidly spreading around the hole. He stupidly realized the stain was blood… _his_ blood. He clutched his shoulder as pain began to wrack his body. He fell to his knees- everything quickly turned colorless and blurred, and the din of battle grew fainter and fainter. His thoughts became disjointed, and he didn't notice he'd fallen onto his side. Soon, everything went dark, and he could only hear the sound of his breathing. And then, there was nothing.


	16. Chapter XVI: The Order

Chapter XVI: The Order

Jin grumbled as he became aware of a pain in his shoulder. He opened his eyes; he saw a cold gray room looking back at him. Jin then realized he couldn't move his arms and legs- he looked, and saw that he had been fastened to the wall by several bands of metal. Just then, there was a click from the door on the opposite side of the room, and a man stepped through- the same man from the night before. "I see that you're awake," he said to Jin. "That's good. You and I need to talk." Jin said nothing. The man continued, "I'm going to assume that one of your predecessors has told you about us." Jin then replied, "You're from the Order."

"I am. And it seems my assumption was correct. Now tell me, have they told you what our organization plans to do?"

"Avatar Aang told me you're trying to master the four bending styles so that you could raise an army and enslave the world." At this, the man laughed- it was a hollow, highly unnerving sound. "Is that really what they believe?" he asked. "They think too small. But I suppose I can't blame them. That was our plan at first.

"Three hundred years ago, after the war, the generals who had led the non-benders realized the severity of the errors they had made. They realized that by exterminating the benders, society as a whole would be pushed back. Technology was developing, but it was, and still is, primitive, and a poor substitute for bending. It would take years, decades, possibly even _centuries_ before society could return to normal. So my ancestors set out to create another generation of benders- once they did so, they would have to temporarily subjugate the world population, until acceptance of benders reemerged.

"But, as time passed, my forefathers, and myself, have realized that the original plan is quite impossible. Prejudice against benders is simply too strong to reintroduce them. But a way has been prepared. We will make this world safe for the benders… by purging it of its impurities." It took several moments before Jin realized what this man was saying. "You…" he said, "you're going to…"

"Unfortunately, it is our only course of action." Jin tried to pull himself away from the wall. "No! I won't let that happen!"

"Be realistic, Avatar. Are you really willing to protect a world that hates you and your kind?"

"If it means stopping you from murdering everyone on the planet!" The man shook his head. "I can see that you've made your decision. It is unfortunate. I had hoped, perhaps, that we would be able to come to terms. But no matter- we will bring order to this world, and as long as you're here, you have no hope of interfering with our mission." The man turned and left the room, closing the door behind him with a click.

Roughly a day passed. Jin, at that point, had given up in his attempts to break the metal bands- they were firmly fixed to the wall, and showed no signs of loosening. Just then, the door clicked again. Jin assumed the man had returned, but was surprised to see a young girl step into the room; she looked about fourteen, about a head taller than him, and had short black hair that reached her shoulders. She locked the door behind her, and then said to Jin, "So this is where they've been hiding you." Jin asked, "Who are you?"

She smiled. "Don't give me that. You know who I am." When Jin didn't answer, the smile rapidly faded from her face and she asked, "You really don't know?" She sighed. "Typical. Father never thinks to introduce me to our guests. I'm Rei."

"Father? You mean that guy…"

"Of course, he hates it when I call him that. I'm only allowed to call him 'Commander Rao' when in his presence." She walked over to him. "I have to admit, you're kind of handsome for being outsider scum. I should ask Father if he can keep you alive… as my pet." She was silent for a few moments, then said to him, "You know, I like you, so I think I'll work out a deal: if you promise to behave yourself, I'll see if I can get you off of that wall. Does that sound good?" She smiled and patted his face; Jin kept a straight face, but was immensely unnerved by her touch. She pulled away from him and crossed the room. Before slipping out the door, she waved and said sweetly to him, "I have to go. I'll be seeing you." The door closed with a click. Jin breathed an immense sigh of relief once she was gone.

* * *

Several days passed. Or was it several days? There seemed to be no windows in Jin's cell, so he had no way of determining how much time had really passed. Every day, that girl, Rei, came to visit him. He supposed he appreciated her company, but something about her just seemed… _off_. As he thought over the next several days, he realized what it was: her eyes. Those horrible, horrible black eyes. It didn't matter how much she smiled at him, or what she spoke to him about; those eyes never seemed to change expression. He avoided looking into her eyes as much as possible- when he looked, he felt as though something reached out from them and bored into his soul.

But it wasn't just her eyes. _Everything_ about Rei seemed unnerving when Jin thought about it. But what disturbed him almost as much as her eyes was her behavior. Almost everything she did seemed to have a slight exaggeration to it- to him, it almost seemed as though she'd read everything she knew about social interactions from a book, but hadn't bothered to practice. And again, nothing she did ever matched up with those soulless eyes.

One day, as Rei entered Jin's cell, she said to him, "You know, one of the prisoners down the hall mentioned you… _Jin_." Jin looked up in shock. "When I visit her, all she does is talk about you." Jin glared at Rei; she smirked back and asked, "Aw, did I hit a nerve?" He growled at her, "If you've done anything to hurt Toph, I'll…"

"Relax. Your precious '_Toph_' is just fine… for now. But it's entirely up to you whether she stays that way." She crossed the room. "I'll make you another deal: if you're good, then I promise that I won't hurt her. But, if you misbehave… then _she'll_ be the one to suffer for it." She patted his face again; Jin tried in vain to pull away. "Does that sound fair?" Jin growled in reply. Rei pulled away from him "I can see you need time to think this over." She crossed the room and exited the cell. He breathed a sigh of relief when she was gone, and began trying to organize his thoughts. He saw exactly what Rei was trying to do; she was trying to force his compliance by holding Toph's safety over his head. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't lash out against Rei; Toph was too important for him to risk. Jin grinded his teeth in frustration- Rei had backed him into a corner. He had few options; he supposed he would have to cooperate with her wishes.

Several more days passed- not knowing exactly how many days he had been held frustrated Jin to no end. Obviously, he wanted to be released, but more than that, he wanted to see his friends- he wouldn't trust Rei's word until he'd seen them with his own eyes. Then he had an idea; he could use his seismic sense to see outside his cell. He closed his eyes and focused. Rough images of the room began forming in his mind. He focused harder; he could see "something" moving around in the hall outside his cell, but his sense refused to extend beyond the cell walls. He opened his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. With his limbs bound to the wall, he couldn't make his own vibrations, and he couldn't form a clear picture from the ambient vibrations. Jin's seismic sense was, effectively, blind. He laughed bitterly at the irony.

The door creaked open. "What's so funny?" Rei asked as she stepped through the door. Jin replied, "Wouldn't you like to know?" She smirked at him. "You know, I have a feeling you want to talk to me about something. Let me guess… you want to make sure your beloved Toph is safe, right?" She smiled mockingly at him.

"Where are my friends? What did you do with them?"

"Your friends? They're just fine. Though I have to admit, that long-haired one has a bit of an attitude problem."

"I don't believe you."

"Well you don't have to take my word for it, but it's not like I can let you get off that wall and go visit them." She paused for a moment. "That reminds me; I promised you I'd try to get you off that wall, didn't I?" She walked over to him and patted his face again; he tried in vain to pull away from her touch. "Well, if you can behave yourself for a few more days, I'll see what I can do." She pulled away and began walking to the door, when Jin asked, "So that's it? You don't have anything else to say?" She turned. "No. Unless _you_ have something you want to say." Jin shook his head. Rei turned again and left the cell.

Another day passed. When Jin awoke, he noticed something… unusual. One of the metal bands that had been holding his arm against the wall had been loosened; it hadn't been fully removed, but it was loose enough that Jin was able to slip his hand through it. The next thing he noticed was that something had been tucked into his waistband. Jin used his now free hand to reach into his pants and pull out the object- a small piece of paper that had been folded several times. Jin carefully unfolded the paper, revealing writing on the inside; the writing said:

_Avatar,_

_When I heard you'd been captured, I began searching though all the cells here to find you. I'm glad I did. I'm a guard here in the base, but I'm not one of them. I'm from the Water Tribes. I want to help you and your friends. I can help you escape, and I can take you to the waterbenders. You'll be safe there. If you accept my help, when night falls, drop this letter by your left foot. I'll take that as a yes. All I need is some time, and then you and your friends will be out of here._

Jin reread the letter several times. He stared at it in disbelief- it just had to be a trap. But what if it was real? What if, among the faceless soldiers of the Order he'd seen, there was a person willing to betray their comrades for the sake of their enemy? He shook his head; that was ridiculous. The fact there was seemingly no way to refuse the offer struck him as suspicious, as did the fact that it came when he needed it. But then again, considering his circumstances, would he really want to refuse a genuine offer, even unknowingly? Jin stuffed the paper back into his waistband to mull over his thoughts.

The day came and went; uncharacteristically, Rei hadn't stopped to visit. He took out the paper and looked at it one last time. He began to wonder if what he was about to do was wrong; was it really his place to put Toph and the others at risk over a few (possibly meaningless) words on a sheet of paper? He crumpled up the paper and dropped it on the ground. There was no going back now- Toph, Nina, Yu, himself… their fates literally hung on who picked up that letter that night. Jin slipped his arm back into the band on the wall, made himself as comfortable as possible, and closed his eyes to sleep, praying that he had made the right decision.

* * *

When Jin awoke the next morning, he noticed that the band holding his arm hadn't been tightened again. He looked down; the letter was gone. He looked up again, and felt his heart stop. Rei was sitting at the opposite side of the room, back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. She perked up when she noticed Jin looking at her, and said to him, "You're awake. Finally. I need to talk to you." As she stood up and stretched, Jin asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How long have I been here? I can't remember."

"A little under three weeks. Is that all?"

"One more thing- this might sound like a weird question, but where's that Rao guy? I haven't seen him since I got here."

"He's busy planning his invasion. He's always busy meeting with his lieutenants- even I don't get to see him that much." She crossed the room over to Jin. "Actually, that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I assume father told you about it- the invasion, I mean."

"I know what you're getting at. Sorry, but my answer's still no."

"Why not?" Jin didn't answer. "Be realistic about this… _Jin_." He cringed when she said his name. "Let me ask you something: how many benders do you think there are in the world? Father and the others say there are about one hundred eighty thousand. Out of that one hundred eighty thousand, about ten thousand benders are currently under our jurisdiction. Ten thousand, or roughly one-fourth of our entire organization."

"So… what? Forty thousand people are supposed to rebuild the entire world by themselves?"

"Don't be ridiculous… it would be half that at most. The rest are either prisoners we're holding, or people who work on the fringes of our organization. At least, until they agree to join us."

"So, just out of curiosity, what are you planning to do with the benders outside of the Order? Are you going to kill them too?"

"Of course not. We'll extend them an offer to join us first. If they refuse, then we will have no choice but to purge them." Rei paused for a few moments, and then said, "I know you're pressing me for information. But still, feel free to ask anything you want."

Jin was surprised, but asked one last question: "Alright. Why?"

"…You're going to have to be more specific."

"Why are you doing this? You do realize what's going to happen on New Year's, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She smiled. "In fact, I'll be leading our ground forces then." Jin looked at Rei as though he'd just been slapped. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. "You've seen my father bend, and it's not like he just threw me to the wolf-bats, you know." She turned away. "I should go now. I'll see you tomorrow." She crossed the cell and left. Jin breathed a sigh of relief, but worry crept into his mind; Rei hadn't mentioned the letter, but by no means did that indicate she didn't know about it. He supposed he would just have to wait until… _something_ happened.

It would be another four days before that something came to Jin in the form of another letter. He pulled the letter from his waistband, unfolded it, and read:

_Avatar, I've figured out a perfect way to get you out here. In about a week, the facility will begin training a number of prisoners who have agreed to side with the Order. Me and a few other moles will try to stir the prisoners into a riot- if we're lucky, we can cause enough of a commotion that I can get you and your friends out of your cells, and use your balloon to escape._

Jin crumpled the letter and dropped it on the ground, unsure of what to think anymore.


	17. Chapter XVII: Escape

Chapter XVII: Escape

Several days passed. The fact that Rei had stopped visiting bothered Jin greatly; he would have been grateful, but Rei's sudden disappearance in the wake of the second letter had to be far more than mere coincidence. He thought, perhaps, that he was reading into this too much, but immediately dismissed the notion- he was at the mercy of his enemies, and had never actually met this "conspirator" that was communicating with him. It was entirely possible everything that had happened so far was some sort of ploy against him.

After roughly five days, Jin received one last letter. It read simply: _Tomorrow_. After reading, Jin tried to mentally prepare himself. But what should he expect? Could they be attacked? And if this indeed turned out to be an ambush, would he be strong enough to fight off his attackers? Considering that he hadn't had any time to train his bending skills, the answer was an almost definitive no. Jin slipped his arm out of the band and stretched it, ignoring the dull pain in his right shoulder. He focused and swung out his arm- an arc of solid air formed and flew a short distance away from him. He then snapped his fingers, and a small fire formed above his hand. Unfortunately, there was no earth in the cell for him to bend- otherwise he and his and his friends would have been gone a very long time ago. He looked down at his free arm; at least he was able to move, however limited that ability might be. He had no idea how the others were being held, or even if they were still…

Jin shook his head, hard. No, there was no place for thoughts like that. His friends _were_ still alive, and they _would_ escape. Together. Just then, Jin had a thought, and created a wind drill with his hand, as Yu had taught him. He held it up to the band holding his other arm, but stopped before cutting through. What was he doing? If he cut himself loose now, and Rei decided to surprise him with a visit afterward, what then? It would be over. She'd sniff out the mole, the escape would grind to a halt, and Jin and the others would be… well, he didn't want to think about that. Jin dispersed the cone of air around his hand, and the slight wind it created died away. He would cut himself free, but not yet. He would wait.

The rest of the day passed- still no visit from Rei. He chastised himself for being overly concerned, and formed another wind drill to slice through the bands. He was hesitant, having no idea if the sounds would alert any guards outside. He decided to try it anyway. The wind drill made contact with the metal, creating a grinding sound, like metal object being dragged across stone- it wasn't very loud, but it would be noticeable if anyone heard it. After a few moments, Jin's other hand was freed. He pulled his left arm away from the wall and stretched it before moving the drill down to his ankles. After another few moments, Jin's left leg, and then his right leg was free. For the first time in he-had-no-idea-how-long, Jin stood under his own power.

He waited for several minutes, but nobody came. He crossed the room, and put his hand on the wall, focusing on the vibrations; he didn't bother to try the door, already knowing it would be locked. As he focused, rough images of the hall beyond flickered in his mind, but they were faint, unfocused. He couldn't see beyond the hall, and couldn't even see past the small arc of hallway touching the wall. He knocked on the wall. A dull thud resonated from it- from the sound, it seemed the wall had been filled with something to block vibrations. He crossed his cell again and sat with his back against the wall. Jin was free, but as long as he was here, and as long as his friends were imprisoned, it meant little. Jin settled himself as best as he could and closed his eyes, trying to rest in preparation for tomorrow.

* * *

Jin grumbled. He stood up, but it did nothing to relieve the pain in his back. He arched his back- it popped noisily as he did so, partly relieving the pain. He listened hard- today was the day of the breakout, but there were no sounds of a commotion. He crossed the room and pressed his ear against the door- still nothing. He walked away from the door, his hand on his chin as thoughts raced through his mind. What should he do now? Would there be some sort of sign when the mole was supposed to retrieve him? But what if the mole didn't show up? How would he get out then? Was it all a trap? It could be, but knowing Rei, she would've already been waiting in the cell if it was.

He sat back down by the wall opposite the door. The letter was still there. He picked it up and read it again; it still said only, _Tomorrow_. He carefully looked over the letter, even reading the back, but that was all. The mole was supposed to break him out today, but didn't even say when. If something didn't happen, he would have to break his friends out himself. But he would wait before he made such a drastic decision.

Jin waited. And waited. And waited. Several hours passed, but still, nothing happened. He stood up and stepped in front of the door; he supposed now he would have to take matters into his own hands. He readied himself, purging all thought from his mind, but just as he was about to separate the energy in his body, the door clicked. It swung open, revealing a guard in the full armor of the Order. Behind him, the sounds of some commotion emanated from down the hall. "You freed yourself?" the guard asked in a hoarse voice. "Well, that's good, I guess. Come on. I got the rest of your friends." He stepped aside to let Jin out of the cell; the hall however was deserted. "Where are they?" Jin asked.

"There's an armory down the hall. They're waiting for us there. Once we meet up with them, we'll head to the docks and escape. Now hurry up! The prisoners won't be able to hold the guards off forever!" He pointed straight ahead, down the hallway. "That way!" They ran down the hall. Jin felt excitement well up in him- finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he would see his friends again. But something was wrong. At first he could hear the footsteps of the guard as he ran behind him, but they stopped suddenly. Jin stopped and turned back, to find himself face to face with a cyclone of air. He tried to block, but the force of the impact knocked him off his feet. The guard stood a few feet away, in an airbending stance. "_Who are you?_" Jin asked sharply as he scrambled to his feet. "Oh come on. You aren't really surprised by any of this, are you?" the soldier replied in Rei's voice.

"What is this?"

"What does it look like?" Rei took off her helmet; as she looked at him, he felt as though he could see something burning in those emotionless eyes- pure, unbridled hate. "I'm busting you out."

"_Why?_"

"I needed some time alone with you. Isn't that obvious?" No reply. "You really don't see it?" Still no reply. "Ugh. I'm going to _kill_ you, along with the rest of your friends."

"You'd betray your comrades, just for a chance to kill me? You can't be serious. Then why bother freeing me? Why didn't you just kill me when we first met?"

Rei paused for several moments, and then said, "You know, there're two kinds of skills in the world. The first is the kind you're born with. Some people just have a natural talent for things- people like you. The other kind… is the kind you can only get trough back-breaking work. …_I hate you, Jin_. You don't realize how lucky you really are. You're the Avatar, the master of all four elements. You didn't have to work the way I did. Everything I learned, I paid for in my own blood. You could _never_ understand what I had to go through." A smile broke across Rei's face, an insane smile that unnerved Jin greatly. "But I'm glad. All that hard work is about to pay off." She shifted her stance. "You might be the Avatar, but your strength is nothing compared to mine… and I'm going to prove it."

Rei swung her arm- a massive arc of air formed and flew down the hallway. Jin tried to divert it, but was hit by the arc's crushing force and sent flying down the hall. He crashed into the ground, and rolled until he hit the wall at the end of the hallway. The impact dazed Jin, but he was able to dodge a pair of fireballs that Rei had fired at him. He stumbled up to his feet and ran down another hallway. This was impossible. Nobody could bend more than one element. But it seemed that Rei had proven that theory wrong. And she was right- she had him beat in sheer force. There was no chance if he stood against her one-on-one. He had to find his friends. Jin scanned the walls for any signs that would point him the right way. He spotted a sign saying "Armory," with an arrow pointing down the hall. He followed it, and found a door marked with another Armory sign. He pushed the door open, and breathed an immense sigh of relief; of all the things Rei had lied to him about, _this_ was not one of them.

Jin slammed the door shut, barred the door, and shoved a large crate in front of the door for good measure. He bent down over Toph and started shaking her- Rei was already pounding on the door. "Toph… Toph. Wake up. Toph, it's an emergency." She awoke and stood up, pulling herself away from his grip. "What happened?" Toph asked. "Where are we?" Jin replied, "We're in an armory," as he tried to rouse Nina. "We have to escape. That girl Rei… she's going to kill us." Nina awoke and pulled herself from Jin's grasp. He moved to Yu, saying, "I know you won't believe me, but I think she can bend more than one element. And she's a lot stronger than me." Yu awoke and rose to his feet; at that moment, fragments of the door flew into the armory and slammed noisily against the ground. Rei stepped in, eyes burning. A stream of water that had been floating nebulously behind her rapidly withdrew into a skin of water she held. Nina charged her, launching several fireballs; Rei avoided most, dispersed one, and sent out an air swipe that threw Nina across the armory. Jin swiped his arm, sending a wind scythe. Rei avoided most of it, but a corner caught the side of her face, leaving a deep cut.

Rei turned to him, an expression of unfathomable rage etched into her face, her eyes burning with the fire of a thousand suns. In the space of less than a second, she withdrew the stream of water again and swung it at Jin.

It took several moments for Jin to process what had just happened. A light thump against the ground drew his attention. He looked, and saw an arm lying on the ground. He looked at his right shoulder, only to be met with empty air. He brought his other arm to where his shoulder had been, and touched it- it was warm. Then came the pain.

Then there was only the sound of Jin's screams.


	18. Chapter XVIII: Revelation

Chapter XVIII: Revelation

Four days passed. The group had escaped to a cave dozens of miles away from the Order's fortress. Nina and Yu were waiting in the cave. Jin lied on the floor in his sleeping bag. Yu looked down at Jin, ran his fingers through the short black hair he had grown during their imprisonment, and said, "I'm starting to get worried. Shouldn't he have woken up by now?" Nina replied, "He was hurt pretty badly, and he lost a lot of blood, too. In fact, he's very lucky he isn't dead now. He just needs some time to recover."

"But it's been three days. Shouldn't something have happened? Anything at all?"

"Well, you can't really expect him to be well after just losing an arm."

"I know. It's just… we lost an entire month. The Order's invasion is only two months away now, and Jin still doesn't know any waterbending. Not only that, but we need to start gathering benders together to help us like Jin said." The two heard footsteps of someone entering the cave; they tuned to see Toph at the entrance, a heavy bag slung across her shoulder. As she stepped into the cave, she asked, "Anything new?" Nina and Yu looked down and said nothing in reply. Toph sat with them, and began searching through the bag. She first pulled out an object and held it in front of Nina- a pair of scissors. "Thanks," Nina said as she began to cut her bangs. Toph then gave Yu a large bundle of brown and tan clothes. "These should cover up all your tattoos. I hope everything fits." Yu searched through them, holding up a long strip of cloth. "What's this for?"

"You're supposed to tie it around your forehead." She adjusted the bandages over her right eye and looked over at Jin- except for the periodic rise and fall of his chest, he was completely motionless. "We have to do something about him."

"What we _should_ do is put him in a hospital." Yu said.

"No way. If the Order's following us, that'll be the first place they look. We should lay low for a while." Nina replied.

"So what do you think we should do?" Toph asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We need to head out and find a waterbending teacher for Jin."

"Are you serious? Look at him! Jin's in no shape to travel."

"Then we'll head out when he wakes up."

* * *

Jin screamed and fell to his knees, clutching the gaping wound where his arm had been. Rei seized the severed arm with her water stream and pulled it over to her. As she held it out in front of her, she said, "You probably won't be able to find a doctor in time to reattach this, but just to be on the safe side…" She held up her hand and flipped her fingers, setting Jin's arm ablaze. The flesh quickly burned away, and Rei dropped the charred remains on the floor. "You… _you __**monster**__!_" Toph slammed her hand against the metal ground and twisted it; immediately, the metal on the ground wrapped around her arm, like an enormous gauntlet, ending in wicked claws. Rei looked on, astonished. "A metalbender!?" She then smiled. "You're a member of the Bei Fong family!I should've guessed. You're practically a living legend. It's a shame that I'll have to kill you. There's so much I could learn from you." Nina and Yu made a move forward, but stopped when Toph held out her arm. She took a deep breath, and charged Rei.

Rei whipped out the stream of water at Toph. She blocked it with her gauntlet, the water not even leaving a scratch. Toph swung wildly at Rei, but she avoided Toph's assault. Toph threw a shard of metal at Rei from the gauntlet, but Rei avoided it as well. She whipped out the water stream again; this time, it was much too fast for Toph to block. The water arced, and slashed Toph across her right eye. She yelped involuntarily from the pain and fell on one knee, clutching her eye. The gauntlet crumbled away, leaving her completely defenseless.

Jin watched the fight, vaguely comprehending what was happening. He made out Toph through his strained vision, and when he saw her fall to her knees he knew she was in trouble. He thought for a moment, then had an idea. With his left arm, he began to trace a circle in the air, and concentrated as best as he could on separating the energies in his body. He waited for the right moment, then, when Rei was exposed, he thrust out his arm. The lightning he shot arced wildly, but amazingly, remained on course. The last thing Rei would remember from those moments would be intense pain as she was engulfed in a bluish-white light. Rei was blasted across the armory and slammed into a wall, before falling into a broken heap. Then, Jin felt himself being dragged to his feet, becoming aware of a burning sensation in his fingertips. He looked over to see Nina holding onto him. Toph (he thought it was Toph; the color had leached out of his vision, and he couldn't focus properly) approached them, still clutching her eye, and said something. He couldn't quite make it out; it sounded distant and muffled, but he thought she said "What do we do now?" He blurted out, "The docks! The balloon is at the docks!" Nina said something that sounded like "We need to get out of here," and he felt himself being dragged next to her.

They made it out to the hallway when Jin felt Nina suddenly stop. Somebody yelled something, then he faintly heard Yu say, "You guys go. I'll hold her off." Jin, Toph, and Nina continued onward.

Yu and Rei stood in the hallway alone. Rei's armor had a large hole blasted into the breastplate, its edges blackened from where Jin had shot her. Rei launched a fireball at him; Yu swung his arm, forming an air swipe that dispersed the fireball. Rei dodged the air swipe, but Jin was already charging her, a wind drill at the ready. He swung wildly at her, but she avoided each one. With each miss, Yu grew more furious; finally, he formed an air swipe with his leg, knocking Rei off her feet and onto her back. Yu immediately set on her, thrusting the drill at the hole in Rei's armor.

She caught his wrist, but he continued to force the drill closer and closer to her chest. And with each moment, Yu's expression became more manic until, when his hand was mere inches away from her chest, a bloodthirsty smile broke across his face. Rei forced her legs out from under Yu and kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him flying. He was almost immediately on his feet again, face twisted in fury. He readied himself, but at that moment, a bolt of lightning flew from behind him and struck one of the walls; the impact shattered the wall and a pile of earth to collapsed into the hall, completely sealing it off. Someone gripped Yu's shoulder; he spun, ready to fight. Nina stood behind him, and said, "We have to go," before pulling him away.

After they had left, the dirt blocking the tunnel twisted, and opened into a small tunnel. Rei stepped through, and followed the two.

* * *

Six days after the group had escaped, Toph and Yu sat across from each other, Jin's map on the floor between them. "I'm pretty sure that we're somewhere over here," Toph said as she pointed to a range of mountains on a peninsula just south of Merchant's Pier. "No, I'm pretty sure that we're on this island right here." He pointed to an island noted as Whale Tail Island. "We can't be on Whale Tail Island, though. We went east, not south."

"Oh, just give up. You noodle-brains have no idea where we are." Nina had returned to the cave from buying supplies, her bag laden with supplies. She approached Toph and Yu, and dropped the bag on the ground. She sat down and said, "Guys, we have a serious problem," before she pulled out a piece of paper from the bag and held it up for them to see. Yu read out loud, "Wanted: Highly dangerous fugitive. Fugitive is roughly twelve to thirteen years old, but is a highly skilled bender. Has black hair, brown eyes… and is missing arm on the right side of his body." He paused momentarily. "It's a wanted poster for Jin." Toph took the poster to examine it more closely. "This isn't good. We need to get moving as soon as possible. We'll stay a few more days to let Jin rest, but after that, we have to go."

* * *

Jin grumbled and sat up. He looked around; he was in some sort of forest with strange slender trees. The forest was thick with a heavy yellow haze- as he looked, he realized nearly everything had a slight yellow tint. Jin rubbed his head, then immediately pulled his hand away- it was his right hand. He was stunned into silence- he thought he'd lost his arm. He stood up and called out, "Guys! Guys my arm's back!" There was no reply. Jin stood up and began walking through the woods. "Guys! Toph! Nina!" There was still no reply. "Yu!" Jin wandered through the trees, but found nobody. "Aang?" A bellowing roar echoed from somewhere behind the trees. Jin shuddered. "Anyone?" He heard something moving in the underbrush and readied himself. "Come out. You can't hide from me." He focused on the vibrations in the ground, but couldn't form an image in his mind. He focused on trying to raise a boulder out of the ground, but again nothing happened. He tried as many techniques as he could think of- fireballs, lightning, cyclones, fissures… nothing seemed to be working.

"Relax. I'm here to help you. And you can't bend here anyway, as you just found out." A person emerged from the trees- it was a man, roughly in his thirties, with short brown hair, light brown skin, and bright blue eyes, and wore a heavy fur parka. As Jin watched him approach, he realized the man was from the Water Tribe. One name came to his mind, and Jin asked, "You're Avatar Han, aren't you?" Han nodded. "I am."

"Where are we?" Jin asked as he looked around. Han replied, "You're in the Spirit World." Jin was confused for several moments, but held his head in his hands as horror spread through his body. "No… no no no… I can't be dead… Am I dead? Did _she_ kill me?"

"No. Your body is still alive, but it was seriously injured. The other Avatars brought your soul here for its own protection."

Jin held up his arm. "Then I didn't really get my arm back, did I?" Han shook his head. Jin was silent for a few moments, then asked, "Hey… where are Aang and the others? Shouldn't they have come to find me?"

"The recent turn of events has the others worried. They're debating what should be done about it. I, of course, wasn't invited." He turned. "Come. There are things you need to learn." He began to walk away; Jin caught up and walked alongside him.

* * *

Another four days passed. Yu sprinted into the cave and slid to a stop in front of Nina and Toph. "Guys! Look at this!" Yu reached into his bag and tossed out a long sleeved coat. Toph held it up and asked, "Why did you buy a coat?" Yu continued to search the bag. "It's to hide Jin's arm, but that's not what I wanted to show you." He then pulled out another sheet of paper and showed it to them. Toph read, "'Fully functional prosthetic limbs?' Are they serious?"

"I don't know, but it's worth checking out, right?"

"It says here that the guy who does the operations is in Ba Sing Se." Nina said.

"Well, we'll wait until Jin wakes up. Then we'll go."

"No. We've already wasted too much time here. We have to go now."

"But Jin's hasn't woken up yet," Toph said. Nina was silent for a few moments, then said, "Tomorrow. We'll wait one more day, then we're leaving, whether Jin's awake or not." She said nothing else. Toph stood up, and walked over to Jin's sleeping bag. She sat down next to Jin, looked down at him, and whispered, "Come on Jin. Wake up. Please. We need you. …I need you."

* * *

"This girl… _Rei_, presents a serious problem," Han said. The forest had receded, and the two now walked down a path on top of a narrow ridge; the yellow haze from before completely surrounded them, obscuring any landscape that might have circled the ridge. "From what we saw, Rei is able to bend all four elements."

"But I thought that was impossible." Jin said.

"So did I. _All_ the Avatar spirits did. But it seems Rei has done it. She doesn't have the Avatar Spirit as a supplement, but she is much stronger than you, in terms of sheer technique."

"Then how am I supposed to beat her?"

"I'm not sure." Han was silent for several moments, then said, "You know, someone like Rei should never have existed. The only reason she does… is because I made a mistake. The war that wiped out the benders three hundred years ago happened under Kai, but the seed that began the war was planted during my lifetime. When I was alive, I did everything I could to maintain order, but I wasn't strong enough. Before long, the benders were spiraling of my control. Then, Kai was born, and was drawn into the cycle of violence. Then, the war began.

"I suppose it wouldn't be accurate to call it a war at all. In truth, it was mostly a series of coordinated strikes by the benders to try and break the morale of non-benders. It ended when Kai was captured, and the rest of the time was spent by benders fighting amongst themselves and non-benders hunting down benders. We had made plans to try and stop the non-benders… but then, the Order formed. We watched them, trying to figure out who they were, and what they were planning."

Han sighed. "Nobody should have to put up with what you're going through. This… is my sin. And people should never be burdened with the sins of their predecessors. …I'm sorry. I wish I could do more to help you, to atone for my sin. But my time has passed. You, and you alone, must bear the full burden of this responsibility."

At that moment, a large cloud of missed rolled over the ridge. It quickly passed, leaving Aang behind on the path. As Aang walked over to the two, Han said, "You found us. I take it that you've made a decision, then." Aang replied, "We have." He then looked at Jin and said, "The monks that raised me taught me that all life was sacred, and should be preserved." He took a deep breath. "What I'm about to tell you goes against everything that I've ever believed in… but Rei's very existence is a threat to the entire world, and the world's safety is too important for my own feelings to interfere. You have a new task: you have to stop the Order… and you must kill Rei."

Jin stared at Aang in silence. "Kill… Rei?" Aang nodded. "But… but there has to be another way."

"I wish there was. We've watched her for almost her entire life. She was raised to be a living weapon for the Order. And she has nothing less than absolute devotion to their cause. In truth, she can't really be called human. Rehabilitation would be nothing short of impossible." He turned away. "You must return to the mortal world. Don't forget what I've told you. The future of the entire world depends on it. Now go." Suddenly, everything went dark, and Jin felt himself falling through a massive abyss- the void separating the mortal world and the spirit world. Then, he saw his body below him, in his sleeping bag. He continued to fall, Jin's spirit falling once again into his body.

* * *

Toph sat at one end of the cave, casually tossing rocks at a stalactite across from her. However, every rock she tossed fell short of its target- Toph still hadn't fully adjusted to relying only on one eye. Yu and Nina had gone into to town together, leaving her alone with Jin. She stood and walked over to where Jin slept. As she looked down on him, she felt a sudden unease creep into her mind. Eleven days had now passed since Jin had slipped into unconsciousness; she'd watched over him vigilantly in that time, but with each day, her faith in Jin awakening grew dimmer. Just then, Jin took a very deep breath; Toph recoiled slightly, but remained sitting- he'd done this several times before. But this time, something new happened- one of Jin's eyes opened, then the other. He slowly turned his head to look at her and asked quietly, "…Toph?"

Toph looked on, her confusion turning into immeasurable joy. She threw her arms around him. "Jin! You're awake! I'm so glad you're okay!" She pulled away. "Don't get up. I'll go get you some water." She crawled over to her bag, and pulled out a water skin before returning to Jin's side. She carefully sat him up and brought the water skin to his lips; Jin drank, immensely grateful to Toph and the cool water that ran down his throat. "Thank you," he said as she took the skin away. He was about to embrace Toph when he realized he couldn't feel his right arm. He looked over at his shoulder, only to be greeted with empty air. He brought his other hand up to the bandages that covered his wound, flooded with a tremendous sense of loss. "Jin… I'm so sorry," Toph said to him. He looked over at her, noticing the bandages that covered her right eye. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"It… it's not as bad as it looks, I promise." Toph said quickly.

"I don't believe you. Show me." Toph sighed and began untying the bandages. When they fell away, she opened her eye. Jin gasped in horror- he could see the blood-red inside of Toph's eye socket, but saw no trace of her eye. "_She_ did that to you… didn't she?" he asked. Toph nodded. "Then _I_ should be the one apologizing."

"Jin, it isn't your fault."

"Of course it is, Toph. If I'd been protecting you like I should have been, that wouldn't have happened."

"Jin… I know you probably feel like you have to protect me, but I can take care of myself. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Both were silent for several moments, and then Toph said, "I must look like a monster, don't I?" as she rewrapped her eye.

"No, that's not true. I think you're still pretty." That wasn't entirely true. By no means was Toph _ugly_, but she would never be beautiful in quite the same way as before. Jin was silent for several moments, then, he leaned toward Toph and kissed her cheek. She pulled away and brought her hand up to her face, blushing. "What… what was that for?"

"You saved me. I guess that means I owe you one now." He paused again. "Where are the others?" Toph replied, "They're in town buying supplies. They should be back soon." Jin slowly climbed out of his sleeping bag, and stood up; he stumbled slightly, but maintained his balance. "Well, look on the bright side. I still have one arm, and at least you can still see." They laughed awkwardly, then immediately fell silent. What Jin said wasn't funny at all; in fact, it served only to remind them just how much worse things could have been. Jin continued, "Anyway, when they get back we need to get going. We've lost too much time." At that moment, Jin and Toph heard footsteps in the cave. "You're awake," he heard Yu say. They looked over to see Nina and Yu walking into the cave.

Yu stopped to put down his bag, but strode directly over to Jin, reached back, and slapped him hard across the face. "What do you think you're doing!?" Yu shouted at her. Nina ignored him and said to Jin, "I saw you use lightning on the day we escaped. That was the most irresponsible thing I've ever seen anybody do. If you create lightning without a clear head, the lightning can surge back into your body and stop your heart. You're lucky you weren't killed."

Nina suddenly embraced Jin. "I'm just glad you're okay." She let go as Yu approached. He gave Jin a paper- Jin read "Fully functional prosthetic limbs… Ba Sing Se, huh? Guess we don't have much of a choice." Yu then gave Jin the coat he'd bought; Jin pulled it on as best he could, and fastened several buttons to ensure it wouldn't fall off. He then walked to the cave's entrance, and stood outside for several moments, absorbing the surrounding landscape. He returned to the cave, retrieved the map from his pack, and unrolled it on the ground, motioning for the others to come. Once they'd gathered around, he said, "From what I can tell, it looks like we're here," and pointed to a small patch south of a mountain range on the southwestern edge of the east continent. "If we travel northeast, we should reach Ba Sing Se in a few days. Any questions?" There were none. "Alright, then we should pack up and get moving."

* * *

Nina cut off the jet of fire she had launched into the envelope of the hot air balloon. Yu continued to send a strong blast of air out from the back of the basket for several more moments before stopping as well. They looked back- the docks they'd departed from were now far behind them, as was the massive fortress connected to it. An island fortress in a barren sea- the Order couldn't have asked for a more secure headquarters. As they looked, they saw two people on the docks, looking back at them: Rei, and another, older man that neither Nina nor Yu recognized. "I wonder why they aren't following us." Yu said. Nina replied, "They probably think we won't be able to get very far." She looked into the basket at Toph.

Toph had pulled Jin's shirt off, and had just finished wrapping Jin's wound. She pulled the bandages tight to restrict his blood flow- it was as much as she could do to keep Jin from losing any more blood. Jin had still remained conscious, although just barely. Toph came into his view- he saw a black fluid flowing from her right eye. A few drops of the liquid fell from her face and landed on his own. "Toph…" he said weakly; her attention immediately snapped toward him. "… your…" A weak gurgle emerged from his throat, and he slackened in Toph's grip. "Jin?" She shook him- no reaction. "_Jin?_" She shook him harder, but still, he did not respond. Tears welled up in her remaining eye. "No… no, please…" She closed her eyes and embraced Jin, pressing her ear to her chest. Then, she opened her eyes again in shock- she could still hear a heartbeat, faint though it may have been. Toph held Jin, whispering to him, "Please Jin… please. Live… please live."


	19. Chapter XIX: White Lotus

Chapter XIX: White Lotus

The four spent the next three days traveling. When they'd landed to make camp for the night, after the sun set, they could see a yellow glow rising above the horizon to the northeast. "You know," Jin said, as he and the others looked at the glow, "my mom told me that the lights in Ba Sing Se are so bright, that they can be seen from miles away at night."

"I heard a lot of stories about it, too," Nina said. "From what I heard, it's the biggest city in the entire world."

"In the Northern Air Temple, if you go all the way up to the top of the highest tower, you can see Ba Sing Se's glow from behind the mountains," Yu said. "But just barely. We could see it better with the telescope in the observatory."

"It must really be something," Toph said. "I can't wait to see it."

The next morning, the group was on its way. After a few hours, they sighted an unimaginably massive wall. Jin looked down at the map, and said, "That must be the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. We should probably land and walk the rest of the way." The balloon began to descend. Several minutes later, after the balloon had been hidden, the group made their way toward the massive wall. As they walked, Yu asked, "What's up with the ground?" The others looked- the land was blasted and worn, and had more than a passing resemblance to a desert. "Well, if I remember the history correctly…" Toph said, "… thousands of battles have happened over hundreds of years outside Ba Sing Se."

"So, warfare caused this?"

"Yeah. But even then, the wall has been broken through only three times." The group stumbled across a road leading to the city, and decided to follow it. An hour or so passed; the road, once deserted, became packed with people as they grew closer to the wall. Finally, they neared the base of the wall- as they approached, they could see a massive steel gate, built into the wall. "What is that?" Jin heard Yu ask. He replied, "That's the Great Gate of Ba Sing Se, or one of them, at least. There are three of them. When the war ended, the people in Ba Sing Se realized that they had no way to get out of the city, so they built the gates. I heard it takes over four hours for one to fully open."

"Who'd you hear that from?" he heard Nina ask.

"My mom. We came here once when I was little. It took us a week to get here and another week to get home." He paused. "That reminds me, I should write to her. It's been a few months." The group continued onward, passing through the enormous gate. Inside, they were pushed along by the crowd for a few minutes, before they broke away in a clear spot. After they broke away, Jin asked, "Did that advertisement have an address on it at all?" Yu searched through his clothes, pulled out the paper, and scanned it. "It says here the shop is in the Outer Ring, District 14, 32nd Street, House 18… whatever that means." He rolled up the paper. "We should find a map of the city. Maybe then things will start making sense." They looked around; the landscape inside the wall was flat, the land broken into numerous squares of various greens and yellows. Farmland- Jin was intimately familiar with the sight. In the distance across from the gate, another wall rose high above the ground. "The city's inside that wall over there," Jin said as he pointed to the wall. "So… what, are we supposed to walk all the way over there?" Yu asked. Jin looked around for a few moments, and then pointed to a large bridge that stretched across the land to the wall. "We won't have to. _That's_ how we'll get into the city."

Jin and the others reached the end of the bridge half an hour later. A station was built at the end, like the train stations in Bei Fong. Posted by the base of the stairs leading up to the platform was a map of the city- lines of various colors traced through the city, denoting the paths of the trains throughout the city. Jin pointed to a symbol on the west part of the map and said, "I think we're here." Nina pointed to another station on the north edge of the city. "Well, it says this is District 14, so we should head to this station here."

"No…" Yu said. "That station is in the agrarian zone. That's where we are. The outer ring is _here_." He pointed to a large circle closer to the center of the map, and traced his finger to a small box on the southwest edge. "And District 14 is here." He thought for a few moments, and then said, "It looks like we'll have to go to this station, and then walk the rest of the way." He pointed to a station in the western part of the ring.

"Well it's settled, then. We should get going."

* * *

A few minutes later, the group walked down the steps of the station. A loud whistle sounded, and the train pulled away from the station, leaving a large cloud of steam in its wake. Jin looked around as he descended the steps- packed between the walls of the outer and middle rings were more buildings than he could possibly count, with virtually no space in-between. Everything was in murky shades of gray and brown. "This place looks awful," Yu mumbled. He and the others walked down the road amongst the people of the city. As they walked, two children ran past. One thrust out his arms and shouted, "Take that, Fire Lord Ozai!" The one in front clutched his chest, collapsed, and said, "Ugh! You have defeated me!" The first child stood over the second and said, "I, Avatar Aang, have defeated the Fire Lord, and now, the world is safe!" The two laughed and ran off. As the group watched, Nina said, "Now that's something you don't see every day."

"Huh… Maybe things aren't as bad as Aang said they were," Jin said. "Maybe, when all of this is over, we could…" Nina looked over. "What? We could what?" Jin stepped forward. "Never mind. We should keep going." The group began walking again. Several minutes passed before they finally reached the address written on the ad. The building was about four stories tall, pressed between two equally tall buildings. Jin asked, "Is this it?" Yu looked at the paper again and replied, "Looks like it. We're at the right address." They entered; inside was a large room, nearly empty save for a large desk opposite the door, and a flight of stairs on the left side of the room. A woman sitting at the desk perked up when she saw them and asked, "Are you all checking in?" Yu gave Jin the ad, and Jin stepped forward, answering, "No, just me." He put the ad on the desk; the woman looked over it and said, "So you're here to get a prosthetic limb? You seem a bit young." Jin said nothing in reply, but unbuttoned his coat and opened it, showing the woman the nothing where his right arm used to be. She examined him, stood up, and said, "Okay, come with me. The rest of you will have to stay here."

Jin and the woman climbed the stairs. On the next floor were a few beds, but they continued up to the next floor. The third floor, much like the first floor, was sparsely furnished; the only objects in the room were a bed and a desk. Pinned against the were numerous diagrams- diagrams of different types of machinery, various organs in the human body, and a few other things Jin couldn't identify. Sitting at the desk was a man, tinkering with a metallic replica of a human arm. "Doctor," the woman said to the man, "we have a customer." The man put down the arm, stood up, and turned to face the two. The man wore a thick apron, and round glasses with thick rims; he was fairly old as well, traces of white showing in his hair. He looked Jin over carefully, then said to the woman, "Thank you, Ai. I can take care of this one." The woman bowed and left. The man followed her, saying to Jin, "Come downstairs with me please."

Moments later, Jin sat on one of the beds downstairs. "Alright, I'll need you to tell me what sort of prosthetic you need," the doctor said, holding a paper and a brush. Jin replied, "I need a replacement arm."

The doctor scribbled something on the paper. "I see. I'll need you to remove your shirt please. I need to see what I'm working with." Jin complied, taking of his coat, and then his shirt. His wound was still wrapped in bandages. The doctor raised his eyebrow, and then said, "I'll need you to remove the bandages, too." Jin unwrapped the bandages, exposing the wound- in the open air, he felt a strange sensation on it, like a cold breeze. The doctor examined the wound and said, "This is a very serious injury. And a recent one, judging from what little scar tissue there is. How did this happen?"

Jin hesitated for a few moments, then replied, "I was working on my dad's farm a few weeks ago, and I dug up a thing. I didn't know what it was, so I hit it with my shovel. The thing… turned out to be a bomb."

"I see. Well, I'm not sure what to say. I've never operated on an injury this recent. It could help you recover faster, but I'm not sure."

"So… how long will this take?"

"What?"  
"How long will it take for me to get a new arm?"

"Look, it isn't as simple as just attaching a prosthetic and calling it a day. It's a very long, complicated process. First, we'll have to remove whatever's left of your arm from your body, which will take an entire day for you to recover from. Arm please." Jin held out his left arm, and the doctor began measuring it with some sort of tape. "Then, we'll have to graft a socket for the arm onto your body, which, mind you, involves clamping your raw nerves onto the port, and is the most painful part of the operation. _Everybody_ screams at that part, even if they're under anesthetics. Finally, I have to send these measurements here to a mechanist who lives a few shops down, then he'll put the prosthetic together for me, and that'll take a few days at least."

"Port?"

"Well you see, in the past, we used to attach the prosthetics directly onto a person's body. They worked fine, but if a person overexerted themselves, then the prosthetic would either rip off their body, or break several of their bones if it didn't. To prevent this, doctors made a new design about twenty years ago. The design involves putting a port for the prosthetic in the body, which the limb can plug into. The limb still functions normally, but it can be detached, which prevents a majority of the injuries that plagued previous designs." The doctor finished his measurements, and re-wrapped Jin's wound with fresh bandages. "Okay, I'm done. I'm going to take these over to the mechanist. You can stay here for the night, but your friends will have to find somewhere else to stay." The doctor descended the stairs, leaving Jin alone in the room.

* * *

"Ai, hold him down!" The woman pushed all her weight against Jin's chest as he thrashed violently on the operating table. The doctor was busy doing something Jin couldn't see, but whatever it was, it was unimaginably painful. Two days had passed- the day before, the ball joint left in Jin's shoulder was removed without much incident, though Jin awoke today filled with dread. Several more minutes of excruciating pain ensued, before it was replaced with a dull, throbbing pain. "Okay, I'm done. Ai, you can let go of him now." The woman let up, and Jin sat up. He looked over at his right shoulder; at the very bottom of his vision, he could see the edge of a metal ring.

"Well, that's taken care of. The mechanist says he'll be done with the arm in a few days," the doctor said. "In the meantime, you should get some rest. The pain should be gone by tomorrow." The woman pulled Jin to the edge of operating table, stood him up, and walked him over to a nearby bed. Jin wasn't particularly aware of this, nor did he notice the woman had laid him down on the bed. He was just too tired to care. Once on the bed, he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

A dull pain awoke Jin the next morning. The anesthetics had long since worn off, and the pain had returned full force. He sat up and attempted to massage the sore area, but was stopped when he touched something metal. He looked over at it, seeing only the very top- he wished had a mirror so he could see what it really looked like. Jin heard the woman say to him, "You're awake. How are you feeling?" He replied, "Well, I'm a little sore, but I think I'll live."

"You're friends are waiting downstairs. Do you want them to visit?"

"Yes, I would like that." The woman descended the stairs, and a few moments later, Toph, Nina and Yu came up. Yu said, "It's good to see you again. How are you feeling?" Jin was confused for a moment; he guessed that after the first operation, his friends hadn't gotten a chance to visit. Jin answered, "It feels like a komodo rhino stepped on my shoulder, but other than that I'm fine." Toph then said, "Jin, yesterday, we put our money together and we bought you something. Think of it as a get-well-soon present."

"You guys… you didn't have to-"

"Sure, we didn't have to, but we wanted to. And I'm sure you'll thank us for it." She turned to Yu. "Yu, can you go get it?" Yu stood up and descended the stairs. A few moments later, he came back up with a red bird sitting on his shoulder. "Well?" Toph asked. "Do you like it?"

"You got me a bird?"

"Not just any bird- a messenger hawk. You said you wanted to write to your mom. Now you can write all the letters you want, and you don't have to stop at the post office."

"Wow. I… don't know what to say."

"I think 'Thank you' would be a good place to start," Nina said.

"Um… thanks."

Toph stood up. "Well, we should go and let you have some rest. We'll take care of the bird for you." She left the room, as did Yu, but Nina stayed behind. She sat down on the bed next to Jin's and said, "I was hoping we could talk. Alone."

"What is it?" Jin asked.

"Well… you almost… we were…" She paused, and took a deep breath. "You really should tell Toph."

"This again? Look, I told you, I can handle this."

"I know. It's just… we thought we were going to lose you. I hope you realize now how serious things are. You should tell her, before… before something _bad_ happens."

"I will."

"Promise me."

"What?"

"Promise me you'll tell Toph."

"Why are you so interested in this?" Jin was very confused. At first, he thought Nina didn't care- he found this sudden interest very disconcerting.

"I just… I don't want you to have to go through the same thing I did."

Jin leaned toward her. "What happened?" Nina quickly looked away. "Nothing. It's not important."

"Yes, it is. Tell me. I won't make the promise until you do." Nina sighed. "When I was little, my mom took care of me. She was always very sick, but as I got older, she got worse. I didn't really appreciate what she did for me, because there was a bunch of other stuff I wanted her to do with me. Then, around my eleventh birthday, she died. I was mad at her because she wouldn't let me join the Ring of Fire or something like that- I didn't even say goodbye to her that morning." She paused. "It hurt. It still hurts. And I don't want you to go through that. And I don't want her to go through that again."

"Huh?"

"When you were unconscious, Toph was the one who took care of you. She worried about you- well, we all did, but I think she worried the most. Look at it from her perspective- having to take care of the Avatar, his entire survival dependant on what you did, doing your best but never really knowing if he would live or die… I don't even want to think of what she would've done if you hadn't pulled through."

Jin sat in silence for a minute, and then said, "Okay Nina. I promise that before the war's over, I'll tell Toph how I feel." Nina stood up and embraced Jin. "Thank you." Then, she elbowed him in the ribs. "And don't you dare forget! I'll ask Toph when this is all over!" She let go and stood up to leave when Jin said, "Nina, could you hold on a minute?" She sat back down and asked "What is it?"

"Can you get something for me?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

Jin told her.

"Are you sure?" Nina asked. He replied, "I'd get it myself, but I'm stuck here. So, can you do it?"

"Yeah. No problem." Nina stood up and left Jin to be alone.

* * *

The next day passed with little notability; Nina had stopped by to give Jin what he'd asked for (he'd hidden it in his coat pocket), but that was all. The day after Jin awoke with a feeling of immense excitement- today was the day. He sat up, but the room was empty. Then, Jin heard the stairs on his left creak as someone descended them. A few moments later, the doctor came into view, holding something behind his back. "Good, you're awake," he said, as he stopped in front of Jin's bed. "I have good news for you. Your prosthetic is ready- the mechanist finished with it late last night, but I decided to wait until you woke up before showing it to you."

The doctor pulled the object from behind his back. It was an arm- an arm much like the one the doctor had been tinkering with a few days before. The arm closely resembled a normal arm, but one could see the various rivets, screws, hinges, and plates that granted it full range of motion; notably, the arm ended in a knob, presumably to plug into the port. "Stand up, please. I need to test the connections in the port." Jin stood up. The doctor popped the prosthetic into the port. Jin held up his new right arm and looked at it. A strange feeling washed over him; he felt as though his arm was numb, moving but not feeling. "Basic motion seems to be working fine. Now try touching your fingers together." Jin touched each finger against his thumb, a small click sounding from the contact of metal against metal. After that, he clenched his hand into a fist. The arm seemed to work fine.

"Everything seems to check out… no jerkiness, no delays… I'd say we have a successful attachment. Now I have to warn you, the port won't fully attach until you're healed, so don't do any heavy lifting for a few weeks." Jin shrugged- for being made of metal, the arm wasn't nearly as heavy as he thought it would be. He asked, "Is this supposed to be so light?"

"Ordinarily, the mechanist uses iron or steel for the prosthetics. For yours, though, I asked him to use titanium. Your model is just as strong as a steel one, but more rust-resistant and much lighter than the iron or steel models. Titanium's a bit more expensive, but it'll be worth the extra cost." The excitement rapidly drained out of Jin; in all this time, it never occurred to him that he would eventually have to pay for the prosthetic. He grabbed the prosthetic and pulled it out of the socket, ignoring the jolt of pain it caused. "I'm sorry, but I can't take this."

"Why not?"

"There's no way I'd ever be able to pay for this. I'm sorry I wasted your time."

"I've already taken care of that."

"You… What now?"

"I paid for the prosthetic myself." A pause. "You know, you benders practically give yourselves away. It's the way you carry yourselves- anybody who knows what to look for can see it."

Jin plugged the arm back into the socket and dropped into a stance. "_Are you with the Order?_" he demanded.

"Please- I'm a bit too old to be fighting the _Avatar_." Jin almost immediately dropped his stance. "How did you know?"

"When you've been around as long as I have, you start to pick things up." The doctor then reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and tossed it to Jin. Jin caught the object and examined it- a Pai Sho tile. Painted on its surface was a white lotus flower. "Come with me. Bring your friends too. There is much we need to discuss."

"I'll make the assumption that you already know who our enemy is…" Jin and his friends sat in front of the doctor and the woman. All six had gathered in the top floor of the building. "The Order. Things have settled between us and them, but we know about their plan."

"They've come up with a new plan," Jin said. "It's much worse. They're going to exterminate every human being on the planet that isn't on their side."

"… I see. Avatar, I need you to tell me as much as you can about the Order. Where are they? Who's leading them?"

"Uh… they're base is on an island southwest of this continent. Their leader is a guy named Rao, but his daughter, Rei… somehow, she's mastered all four elements."

"What? How?"

"I don't know. But Avatar Aang told me she's their ultimate weapon. She's going to be leading the Order's forces on the day of the invasion. And, if I remember correctly, they have an airship. A big one."

"Huh, that must be their mobile fortress. We heard from a few moles inside the Order that they were working on building a flying base, but I didn't think it was true. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"One last thing. Before the Order captured us, Rao… he shot me with something. I'm not sure what- I only got a glimpse. But it looked like… well… can I have a paper? I can't really describe it." The doctor searched around and gave Jin a paper and a brush. Jin drew what he saw- first, a circle, with a handle and a tube coming out of opposite ends. He held it up to the doctor- he examined it for several moments, before saying, "I've seen that before. Hold on for just a second." The doctor descended the stairs, returning several minutes later with a scroll. He unrolled it, revealing a schematic of something much like the thing Jin drew. He read the characters at the bottom of the scroll. "Mach Pistol?"

"Yes. The mach pistol is a very dangerous weapon. Using, or even just owning one is outlawed in most countries- in fact, I'd be in serious trouble if anyone found out I owned this schematic."

"What makes it so dangerous?" Yu asked.

The doctor pulled a small object out of his pocket- a metal slug wrapped in paper. "This is called a cartridge; there's a small amount of spark powder in the bottom. The mach pistol has an internal flintlock system, which, when fired, burns through the paper and ignites the powder. When the powder ignites, it makes a small explosion, which accelerates the bullet out of the barrel. _This_ is what makes the mach pistol so powerful; it's a ranged weapon, but far more versatile than any bow. Also, reloading is simple; it's a matter of opening a hatch on the side of the gun, dropping in a cartridge, closing the hatch, and re-cocking the firing mechanism." The doctor paused for several moments. "The creation of the mach pistol presents benders with a distinct disadvantage in battle. In fact, it's part of the reason why the Bender Revolt failed three hundred years ago. There simply isn't enough time between when the trigger is pulled and when the bullet reaches its target for a bender to create any sort of defense. And a skilled user could fire six shots in fifteen seconds- more than enough to kill a soldier. For this reason, the mach pistol was outlawed, and all models and schematics were destroyed. I can't tell you how many schematics are left in the world- this may be the only one- but I do know there are three models left: one is in a war museum here in Ba Sing Se; another is under heavy guard at all times in an armory somewhere on the western continent; Rao, it seems, owns the last."

The doctor rested his face in his palm. "I have to report this to the Grand Masters. They won't like this, but we'll have to adjust our strategy based on what you've told me." Jin stood up. "Wait… there are others?"

"Of course. The Order of the White Lotus has agents scattered all over the world."

"Then… can you tell them to start building an army? The Order will begin their attack in a few months, and we have to be ready for them."

"I'll tell them. And we'll do everything we can to help you."

"Wait," Yu said. "I need to ask you… are there members in the Air Temples?"

"There are a few in each temple, yes."

"Have you been able to talk to any in the Northern Air Temple?"

The doctor looked down at the ground. "The Grand Masters sent several letters a few weeks ago, but none of our agents there have responded." Yu's expression turned into a mixture of shock and sadness, and he looked at the ground. The doctor stood up again. "You should go. But there's one last thing you should take with you." He searched the room for a few moments, and returned to give another scroll to Jin. "This is a map of all the safe houses run by the White Lotus, along with all bender settlements we know of. It's the least we could do. You have to go now. You won't be able to master the four elements here." Jin stood up and bowed. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I can't repay you for any of this."

"I think saving the world would be adequate payment. Now you have to go." Jin and his friends stood up to go, but the doctor said, "Wait. Avatar, take this with you." He gave Jin a small tool resembling a wrench and a screwdriver. "You'll have to make all your own repairs from now on. Take good care of your prosthetic, and it'll take care of you. Got that?" Jin nodded as he pocketed the tool, and turned to leave, the others following.

After an hour, the four were leaving the city. As they crossed the desolation back to the balloon, Jin asked, "So what's next?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Toph asked. "We need to find you a waterbending teacher. Let's see that map that guy gave you." Jin pulled out the map and unrolled it. The others gathered around. "Well, it looks like there're three major settlements," Nina said. "One at the North Pole, one at the South Pole, and one… in the middle of the Earth Kingdom?"

"How are we supposed to check all of them?" Jin asked.

"Easy- we'll fly to the North Pole first, then we'll check the middle settlement, and we'll finish up at the South Pole," Toph said.

"I like the sound of that plan," Jin replied as he rolled up the map. "North Pole, here we come."


	20. Chapter XX: The North Pole

Chapter XX: The North Pole

Three days passed as the group flew north. The basket was starting to get a bit small for the four of them. The wind had calmed enough that there was no danger of the balloon drifting off course. Jin sat at one end of the basket, stroking his new pet hawk. He'd never had a pet before, let alone a bird. He was surprised- he'd assumed that hawks were aggressive, but this one was fairly even-tempered. Nina looked over and asked, "So Jin, have you come up with a name for your hawk?" Jin scratched his head, unsure of how to answer. "Um… no?"

"Do you need help?" Jin shook his head, and thought for a few moments. Then he had an idea. "Hey.," The bird looked directly at him with his honey-colored eyes. "What do you think of…_Tian_?" The bird cocked his head and chirped softly. He stroked the bird a few more times, before lifting it off his shoulder. "Sorry, Tian, but I need to take care of something." The bird squawked and hopped toward the others. Jin grabbed his pack and pulled out his writing tools. He thought for a few moments then wrote:

_Dear Mom,_

_ I'm sorry that I haven't written to you in a while. I know you were probably worried, but I want to let you know that I'm okay. I left the west continent a while ago, and I visited a few of the Air Temples. It was incredible. The Western Air Temple was one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. After that, I went to the Northern Air Temple. On the way there, I met a few people, and we traveled there together. They aren't bad people, so don't worry. Then we traveled to Ba Sing Se again. After we leave, I'm not sure where we'll go, but. I'm starting to understand myself better, I think. So we might be seeing each other again soon._

_Your son,_

_Jin_

Jin whistled, and Tian returned to his side. "Hold still boy," he said as he slipped the letter container on the bird's body. He put the letter in, and said to the bird, "Okay boy, I need you to take this to my mom. She lives in Gashuin. Do you know where that is?" Tian stared back at him. "_Do you?_" Tian chirped. "Good. My mom's name is Lin. Go find her, and then come back right away. Okay?" Tian squawked and hopped onto the edge of the basket, before flapping his wings and flying away.

"You sent him away and you didn't even give him a name? That's cruel," Nina said to him. "Hey, I gave him a name!" he replied.

"What is it then?"

"… _Tian_."

"That's nice."

Another day passed. Jin peered over the edge of the basket and said, "Well that's a familiar sight." The balloon drifted lazily over the ocean- the only new sight was the odd iceberg floating in the water. He turned to the others and said, "Guys, from here on out, it looks like we won't be able to land until we reach the North Pole."

"Then how are we supposed to camp?" Yu asked.

"We aren't. We'll have to keep flying. We'll sleep in shifts to make sure the balloon doesn't crash or drift off course. Don't worry- it's just a temporary thing until we reach the North Pole. I'll take the first shift. Anyone else want to go with me?"

Toph raised her hand. "I'll do it." Jin breathed an internal sigh of relief, pointed at Yu, and said, "Okay, Toph and I will take the first shift, then you and Nina will take the next shift. Sounds fair."

Night soon fell. Nina and Yu curled up on the basket floor to sleep, while Jin and Toph remained awake. The night was an inky, impenetrable black- there was no moon in the sky to provide light. Jin took a deep breath, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the item Nina had bought for him- a plain headband made of silver. He looked over to the front of the basket- in the faint light of the stars, he could see Toph standing by the edge. Jin walked to the front of the basket, carefully stepping over the sleeping Nina, and leaned against the edge, clutching the headband behind his back in his left hand. "Hey Jin," Toph said. "It sure is dark. We should have bought some of those glowing crystals when we had the chance." Jin held up his right hand, igniting a flame in his palm. He breathed another sigh of relief- he could still bend with his new arm. "Is that better?"

"Yeah…" The two fell silent. Jin looked over at her, then looked away. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. He tried to swallow, but he felt as though his throat had swollen shut. "Toph?" he asked hoarsely. She looked over. "Yeah?" He tried, and failed to swallow again. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Erg… w-when's your birthday?"

"Huh? My birthday passed a long time ago. Sorry."

"Oh… well… I bought you a present, but… I didn't know when your birthday was." He held out the headband to Toph. "Here. Um… happy birthday!" Toph took the headband and looked at it. "Jin, did you buy this for me? It's wonderful! Thank you!" She slipped the headband into her hair and smiled at him. He smiled back and looked away, the smile rapidly fading from his face. His heart continued to pound in his chest. Jin felt his cheeks burn in shame. He'd ruined the one chance he had of telling Toph how he felt. Why? Because he was too scared was why. He rested his head on his arms and gazed out into the darkness until his shift ended.

The next morning, the group continued onward. The sun rose to the right of the balloon- the group, thankfully, had not drifted off course. Over the last few days, the temperature had dropped dramatically, and as the balloon continued to drift onward, the four huddled around the balloon's burner for warmth. The balloon floated high above the clouds, obscuring the ocean and any potential land below. Nina looked down over the edge of the basket and said, "We'll never find the North Pole with all these clouds. We have to go down. Jin grabbed the rope for the vent and pulled, and the balloon descended, sinking beneath the clouds.

The balloon reemerged under the thick blanket of clouds. Icebergs floated in the ocean below, but they were unlike the ones they'd seen before- these icebergs were covered in wicked points. It was painfully obvious that they had not formed naturally. The group's attention however, was turned toward something much more impressive just above the horizon. A large landmass approached, but even from their incredible distance, they could see… something carved into the side. As they approached, more details became visible- nestled between the ocean and the walls of ice rested a city that roseup in a series of steps. A wall of ice separated the city from the ocean. Though distant, and scarred from battle, Jin could make out a symbol on the center of the wall- a crescent and three wavy lines inside a circle. The moon and the ocean: the symbols of the Water Tribe. "There it is guys…" Jin heard Yu say. "…the ruins of the Northern Water Tribe." All four gathered at the front to see. Jin then said, "When we land, we'll spread out and check the city. If we're lucky, we might find people there."

They continued their approach. As the balloon drew closer, details became more evident: the wall, where it had not collapsed, was laced with cracks; holes had been blasted into buildings and the walls of ice surrounding the city; many buildings were heavily damaged, or had been outright shattered. Time had not softened the devastation of the war three hundred years ago, and without waterbenders to heal them, the scars of that tragedy would likely remain… forever. But there was one place that seemed to be intact- a large structure in the rear of the city that towered over everything else. After a few minutes, the balloon drifted over the wall. Below, what were once intricate canals were now shattered and broken to be almost unrecognizable. "Should we land here, or should we keep going?" Jin asked.

"I don't see a good place to land," Toph said, then pointed to the structure. "We should try to get closer to that thing." The balloon continued on; as it progressed, the damage lessened, and eventually disappeared near the base of the structure. The group landed the balloon, but before entering the structure, they looked out over the once-proud city of the waterbenders. Yu sat down on a flight of stairs leading up to the temple and said, "I can't believe it's really gone. I thought this place was untouchable." Nina sat down next to Yu. "I know. It took the Fire Nation a hundred years to break through the Northern Water Tribe's defenses. The non-benders did it in four." Jin retrieved his sword, slung it across his back, and said to the two, "Well you can't forget, after Kai disappeared, most of the waterbenders left the city. With nobody to keep up the defenses, the non-benders tore right through this place. The same thing happened to Omashu."

Jin hopped out of the basket and stepped toward the building. But before he could take any more steps, Nina asked, "Jin, what are we doing? Are we seriously going in there? I mean, look at this place." Jin looked back. "I know. But we have to start somewhere. We'll check here, make a quick run through the rest of the city, and if we don't find anyone, we'll go." Jin ascended the steps up to the building. He stepped though the door, the others following.

The inside of the structure was far more elaborate than the outside. Intricately carved pillars dotted the inside of the building. Mats of fur, preserved by the cold air, were scattered about the building. Near the center of the room, a large pit had been carved; within rested several long tables, again made of ice. At the far end of the room, a magnificent staircase rose up to, incredibly, a massive waterfall. The symbol of the moon and ocean had been carved everywhere on the inside of the building- on the walls, the floor, the pillars, with one massive symbol carved above the waterfall. But their attention was immediately drawn to what appeared to be a person in the building. The person sat in front of the waterfall at the other end of the room, with their back turned to the group.

The group cautiously made their way to the waterfall, and after a minute, stood near the top of the stairs by the waterfall. Jin stepped forward and said, "Uh, excuse me? We're sorry, we didn't know anyone was-" Suddenly, the person stood and spun, throwing out his arms at Jin; at the same time, a stream of water flew from the waterfall and hardened into numerous needles of ice. Jin quickly spun his arms, creating a wind shield that deflected the needles. Jin lowered into a stance, absorbing as much as he could about the person in what little time he had before his next strike- the person was a young man, about Nina's age, with short brown hair, dark brown skin, and a heavy fur parka much like Avatar Han's. The others readied themselves, but the boy said to them, "No. This is between me and him. No interruptions." He eyed Jin's sword. "You have a sword. Come. We will fight like men." The boy drew a stream of water, and hardened it into the shape of a sword. Jin grabbed the handle of his sword and drew it. Jin nervously tested the sword's weight- he'd never had to fight with his sword before.

The boy charged. He swung from the side, but Jin was able to block. Jin swung his own sword back, but it was a clumsy swing that was easily avoided. The boy made another swing from the left; again, Jin blocked it. But almost instantly, the boy spun and struck Jin's sword near the crossguard, knocking it out of his hand. He caught it in his other hand, but the boy was already preparing his next strike- there was no way Jin could position his sword to protect himself. He shielded himself with his right arm as best as he could.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The sword struck Jin's arm, and shattered; though the sword had been stopped, it had cut through his sleeve, exposing a gleam of the metal beneath. A large piece of the sword flew past his arm and embedded itself in the floor by his foot. Jin watched as the boy's face transformed from one of rage to one of bewilderment. The boy's surprise left him completely vulnerable; seeing the opening, Jin drew back and shoved the broad side of his arm at the boy's face with all his might, striking him hard and knocking him to the ground. Before he could get up again, Jin switched his sword to his good hand and pointed it at the boy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said. The boy stood up, holding up his hands. "You beat me. But before you deliver the final blow, I believe it would be common courtesy for us to exchange names. I am Kohta."

Jin sheathed his sword. "Jin."

"Is that all?" The boy put his arms down. "You are not going to finish me off?"

"No. I'm not here to fight you. I need to find the waterbenders."

"Well, there are none here, as you can see." He crossed his arms. "Why do you need to find them?"

"He's the Avatar." Toph said, and stepped forward. "He needs to find a waterbending teacher before New Year's." Jin nodded, and said "It's true," before he flipped his fingers, creating a small fire. Kohta raised his eyebrow at this and said, "So it seems." He turned toward the entrance. "This is not the place to talk. Come with me."

A few moments later, the five were descending the steps of the building. "If you do not mind my asking…" Kohta said, "What was that?" Jin, who stood next to him, quickly figured out what he meant, held up his right arm and rolled back his sleeve, exposing the metal underneath. "It's a prosthetic arm… and a very bad memory for me." Jin gripped his shoulder with his other hand, feeling a twinge of pain somewhere underneath the port. "So, what about you? What are you doing here?"

"This place used to be a temple. Here, the people of the Northern Water Tribe met to discuss their future. It was also the home of the chief. Nobody comes here, even though it is the only part of the city still standing. Well, I do. I come here when I need to meditate." He stopped at the base of the stairs. "Is that yours?" he asked, indicating the balloon. "Yeah," Jin replied. "If you don't mind me asking, if you don't live here, where do you live?"

"We have another city, on an island east of here. It is small, though- there are less than two hundred people there."

"To the east, huh? Should we fly there?" Jin made his way for the balloon, but stopped when Kohta said, "That will not be necessary. I have a boat. We will use that." Jin continued to the balloon and hopped in, tossing out everyone's bag, climbing out after shouldering his own.

A few minutes passed, and the five traveled through the ruins of the city. Before they left the temple, Kohta had covered their balloon with a dome of ice, saying the balloon would be safe there. As they snaked through the ruins, Jin saw just how well the damage from the war had been preserved. "This entire city was built with waterbending," Kohta said to the group. "Before the war, the people here used the canals to get around. Now…" He looked sadly at a canal to his left- some projectile had blasted it apart, blocking it with debris. Kohta stopped. "This is it." A slim boat floated in the canal to the right. It wasn't especially large- Jin guessed it to be no more than thirty feet long- and seemed to have no means of propulsion. Kohta extended an arm, forming a ramp to the boat from the ice- Jin noted the smoothness of the motion, a trait not shared by most of the techniques he had learned. Kohta boarded the boat- the others followed.

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Nina asked. "I didn't see any way to get to the ocean." Kohta replied, "That will not be a problem." Kohta then walked to the bow of the ship, held out his arms, and pulled them back, as though he were pulling a rope. The boat lurched slightly, and soon glided smoothly through the water of the canal. They reached the wall; Kohta made several more smooth movements, and a section of the ice lowered, permitting them passage before closing up again. Kohta made another movement- at first, nothing seemed to happen, but then, the group realized the walls seemed to be stretching. Then, the boat rushed out on a torrent of water, away from the wall, and into the ocean. Kohta began making those pulling motions again, and the boat glided soundlessly across the water.


	21. Chapter XXI: The Waterbending Master

Chapter XXI: The Waterbending Master

Several minutes passed as the boat drifted across the ocean. Jin had only been on a boat once before, but the constant motion of the ground beneath him unsettled his stomach greatly. He was much happier flying. The boat sailed alongside the landmass to their left- the sheer cliffs of ice stretched far above them, seeming to threaten to topple onto their fragile boat. Eventually though, a small landmass peeked above the horizon, growing larger as they approached. The island was fairly large, but paled in comparison to the landmass next to it.

Kohta guided their boat to the island. It too was surrounded by high cliffs, but rather than ice, they were made of rock. As they approached, Jin saw something on the side of the island- when they drew closer, he saw it was a cascade of ice, like a frozen waterfall. Kohta stood at the bow of the boat, and made several more motions, opening a hole in the side of the ice. The boat drifted through.

Jin wasn't prepared for what was on the other side. The ice shelf concealed a massive cave, but the cave itself did not draw Jin's attention- rather, it was the massive ship frozen in a thick sheet of ice across from the cave entrance. A multitude of smaller boats floated in the water surrounding the ship. The boat glided to a small dock by the base of the ship and stopped. Kohta searched around the bow of the ship, and picked up a large weight with a rope tied to it, before walking to the edge and dropping it into the water below. From a boat anchored in front of Kohta's, a man shouted, "Hey Kohta!" The man hopped from his boat to the dock, noticing Jin's group, and asked, "Who're they? More castaways?" Without any hesitation, Kohta nodded and replied, "Yes."

"You know your dad didn't like it when people brought outsiders here. What kind of example do you think you're setting?"

"They will not be staying long. And I am sure my father would understand this situation." Kohta stepped onto the dock, and motioned for the others to follow. They made their way to the base of the dock, circled around the stern of the massive steel ship. The group, minus Kohta, looked up in awe of the vessel. Kohta, noting their curiosity, said to them, "This ship is from the Fire Nation navy, from when there was still a Fire Nation. My father thought it was in the Siege of the North." Yu said, "The Siege of the North? That would make it over six hundred years old."

"Indeed. Our ancestors found it when they fled from the North Pole, impaled on the ice. My father, a few warriors here, and myself live inside it, but the damage it suffered is far too extensive for anyone here to repair. This ship will never sail again." Kohta was silent for a few moments, and then said, "But enough depressing stories. We need to move on."

"Yeah, about that…" Jin said. "What's the deal with your father? Is he important?"

"My father is the leader of this fine community… so yes, he is important." Jin was unsure if Kohta was being sarcastic or not. Kohta led the group up a large ramp that entered the ship. The ramp had been hastily constructed, and led up to a large hole that had been torn into the side of the ship; under the ramp, Jin could see a shelf of ice frozen to the hull, presumably keeping the bulk of the ship out of the water. Kohta led them through the ship, through numerous cramped hallways and up several flights of stairs, but always following a sign that said "Bridge." Eventually, they stopped in front of a door; it would have been unremarkable were it not the sole feature of the room at the very top of the stairs. Kohta approached pushed it open.

The room beyond looked like the ordinary bridge of a ship, but had a few personal touches- various animal furs had been draped across the walls and floors, and in one corner of the room, a sleeping bag rested at the base of a small weapon rack. A large window stretched across the wall opposite the door, providing a view of the cavern outside. Almost immediately, a white blur rushed from across the room and jumped onto Kohta. It was an animal, the size of a large dog but with odd, slender features, like those of a fox. Kohta laughed as the beast licked his face and said, Okay, okay, down Lala." The beast retreated and laid down on one of the animal furs. Kohta crossed the room and sat down next to the animal, running his hand through its fur. Jin and his friends entered the room as well and sat down across from Kohta. "This is Lala. She's my arctic fox-hound and the best friend I have ever had," Kohta said as Lala nuzzled against his face.

"Um…" Jin began. "Where's your father? Is he here? Can we talk to him?" Kohta looked at him and replied, "Of course." Kohta stood up and walked to the weapon rack. He reached behind it, and returned, holding a scroll. "Ehrm…" Jin was confused. Was this a joke? It didn't feel like it- though Jin had only known him for about an hour, Kohta didn't strike him as the joking type. "This is all I have left of my father," Kohta said. "He left me instructions on everything." When Jin still didn't understand, Kohta said flatly, "My father is dead."

A pang of guilt shot through Jin. How could he not have seen it? "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know."

"Hmph. My father has been dead for two years. There is no point in grieving over him anymore. I have a responsibility to lead the people here, and I intend to uphold it." He shook his head. "But that is something we will speak of another time. Right now, we need to focus on what is most important." Jin nodded in agreement and asked, "Can you do it? Can you teach me waterbending?"

Kohta visibly hesitated. "I… I cannot. I do not have the skill to teach you. I apologize." Toph then interjected, asking, "Well, don't you have a teacher? Could he do it?"

"She might. I'll need to introduce Jin to her. Come." He stood up; Jin did likewise. The others began to stand up as well, but Kohta said to them, "You do not need to come with us."

"Why not?" Yu asked in protest. Jin replied, "Look, this is something we can handle ourselves. You guys should try to relax." The others sat down, but from their grumbling it was clear they were not happy with the decision. Kohta and Jin filed out the door, winding through the ship, out into the cave again. The two walked back to the dock, but this time, someone stood at the end of the dock. The person was mostly turned away from the two; however, they could see a stream of water rising from the harbor, following the person's movements.

"Master…" Kohta began. The water stream rippled and collapsed back into the harbor. "Yes, please, do interrupt. It's not like I'm doing anything important," the person said as they turned toward Kohta. It was a woman, as Kohta had said. Like Kohta, her skin was dark, and her hair was black, but rather than a heavy parka, she wore pants and a shirt wrapped around her torso, presumably for easier movement. In spite of this, she didn't seem bothered by the cold. She stopped when she saw Kohta. "Oh… I… didn't know it was you." Kohta replied, "You do not need to apologize. I have found another student." The woman eyed Jin closely, then said to Kohta, "You may go." Kohta looked back, confused. "Master? But what about--"

"No lesson toady. I need to acquaint myself with the new student." Kohta bowed respectfully to his teacher and was on his way. Jin and the woman remained. The woman continued to eye Jin with suspicion. After several moments, to his relief, she asked, "What's your name?" he replied, "It's Jin."

"Jin, then. I'm Master Song. As you can tell, I'm Kohta's teacher. Come, please." Jin walked to the edge of the dock and stood next to Master Song. Once next to her, she said to him, "You should take off your coat. You'll need free movement for this." Jin hesitated, but did as he was asked- from where he stood, the master wouldn't see his prosthetic. "We'll start with basic motions." Song widened her base and held out her arms. "The most basic technique of waterbending is pushing the water to make a wave. You start in a stance like this." Jin widened his base to imitate her. "Good. Now hold up your arms." Jin hesitated again, but did so, holding both arms in front of him.

Song nearly did a double take when she saw Jin's prosthetic. "What…" was the only thing she could say. He sighed- he might as well come clean now. "It's a prosthetic," he said. "Don't worry. I can bend with it; otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this." He snapped his fingers; there was no snap, but the sound as his fingers slid across each other. Regardless, a fire ignited an inch or so above his fingertips. Song's eyes widened in shock. "You… you're…"

"The Avatar? Yeah. But if you don't mind, that's something I'd like to keep between you, me, and Kohta."

"O-of course. We should continue with the lesson." She turned back to the water, trying to keep a straight face but trembling slightly. "N-now you have to shift your weight and… um, push and pull. Like this." Song shifted her weight back to her heels, drawing in her arms before rocking forward again, extending her arms. Each time she rocked back she took a deep breath, and exhaled every time she rocked forward again. In response to her motion, a small section of the water in the harbor sloshed back and forth, perfectly synchronized to her movement. She stopped, and said to him, "Now you try. Don't worry about moving the water just yet. Just focus on the proper movements." Jin nodded and began to imitate his teacher's movements. He rocked back onto his heels, drawing his arms back, and then shifted forward onto his toes, extending his arms again. He closed his eyes, focusing on keeping his breathing steady. Backward. Forward. Pull. Push. Inhale. Exhale.

Then, Jin heard the sound of sloshing water. He opened his eyes. A small patch of water rolled away from him as he pushed out his arms. When he pulled back, the water followed. He was so stunned, he stopped breathing, and the water fell still, disturbed only by the ripples of the previous motion. He stopped; Song, who had been watching, stated "You were waterbending." Jin stood up straight, and stammered, "I… I didn't… mean to…"

"Of course not. Nobody ever means to. For whatever reason, waterbending is easy to pick up for most students. But your best bet would be to take things slowly. Keep going." Jin nodded, lowering himself into his stance, and began to push and pull the water again.


	22. Chapter XXII: Zero

Chapter XXII: Zero

Hate.

Hate hate.

Hate hate hate hate hate.

Normally, Rei was not somebody who was easily angered. But something about this boy, this… _Jin_ infuriated her. Her blood boiled when she thought of his name; a nameless something clawed at her skin whenever she pictured his face. Rei was used to hate. But why? What was it about him that made her hate him so much? What? What what what could it be?

Rei had told him it was because he would never know what she went through. It was true. She had spent several agonizing years mastering the four elements, but when she did, she was flooded with pride- a pride that, despite knowing the elements for over a year, had yet to lose its luster. That couldn't be the reason.

Was it that he was the Avatar? No, that was ridiculous. She'd proven that she was his superior in every single way.

Was it his friends? No, that couldn't be it either- she'd seen his reaction when she threatened that pathetic earthbender girl. In truth, by becoming so attached to them, he had inadvertently put himself at a disadvantage- and had provided her with her greatest weapons against him.

Was it _that_ technique? Possibly. She remembered that boy had shot her with something she'd never seen before. Mere hours after they had escaped, she locked herself in the sanctum, tearing through scroll after scroll, searching for information, techniques, something, anything that would tell her more. She learned that he'd used lightning on her… but that was all. She must have read every scroll in the sanctum at least three times, but there was no information on how to counter it. She could feel the rage flare inside of her- he had something on her. He had one technique that she had no way of stopping.

And that gave her all the more reason to hate him.

But a definitive answer eluded her, and as time passed, the anger continued to build. How was it that she was unable to provide a satisfactory answer to her own question?

She wanted to chase after him, to capture him… to kill him. But mostly, she wanted to get away, to leave the fortress that was both her home, and her prison. Father had refused to let her go. The day after the Avatar had escaped, they spent the better part of an hour arguing furiously. She didn't understand; the Avatar was the greatest threat to their mission, but Father stubbornly refused to allow her to go, or even to send a detachment of soldiers after him. She fumed as she looked back on that day; it was the first time he had ever ordered her to do something, not as her commander, but as her father. "Rei, I refuse to let you chase the Avatar," she remembered him saying. "We've come too far to risk losing everything on your personal whim." She'd opened her mouth to protest, but Father then said, "Rei, as your father I forbid you to go. That's final."

At that, Rei stormed out of the room. Who did he think he was, ordering_ her _around like that? She was the one who had fought the Avatar, not him. She should be out there, hunting after him. A small flare of resent ignited when she thought of the Avatar. _He_ didn't have to put up with this. The question re-emerged in the back of her mind as she went through her daily training. Maybe this was the reason. Was it, perhaps, that he had the chance to experience a "normal life?"

_No._

Rei shifted her weight forward, snapping her outstretched wrist; the mass of water floating nebulously to her right responded by whipping out with a loud crack. Then, she drove her heel into the ground, a fissure opening in the ground in response. She allowed the water to fall to the ground as she punched the air, a jet of fire igniting in the air inches from her knuckles. Finally, she turned and swung her left arm- a crescent of hardened air formed and flew a few feet before dissipating.

Rei smiled.

She had mastered all four elements.

She had defeated the Avatar and his comrades in battle.

Why in the world would she want a normal life?

Hate.

Hate hate.

* * *

**Another chapter this week, just because I love you all so much.**


	23. Chapter XXIII: Field Trip

Chapter XXIII: Field Trip

Jin had spent the next two and a half weeks training under Master Song. However, Kohta did not train with him; when he asked, she had told him that their skill levels were so different, it would be to their detriment to try to train both of them at the same time. After several lessons, Jin quickly found out why. Song told him waterbending was easy to pick up- what she neglected to tell him was that learning instantly became much more difficult after that. He'd spent two days learning to "stream the water," as Song had called it; it was easy enough to push the water, but to manipulate it, to hold it in a certain form… it was more difficult than he could have imagined. He lost count of the number of times he'd tried to lift the stream of water from the harbor, only to have it wobble and inevitably collapse.

The other three elements were easy enough to understand: earthbending was a matter of his will being stronger than that of the earth; firebending burst forth from his body freely at his call; airbending took little more than a gentle nudge before it willingly cooperated. But when it came to water, he was at a loss. Obviously, the water wouldn't work with him right away as fire would, but he couldn't force it to cooperate like with earth, nor would it respond to gentle nudges like air.

But waterbending wasn't the only thing on his mind. The day after they had arrived, as Jin practiced by the dock, Kohta said from behind him, "Jin, I need to speak with you." Jin turned away from the water and asked, "What is it?"

"It is important, but we cannot discuss it here. Come with me." Jin followed Kohta all the way up to the bridge of the ship. Once they stepped through the door, Kohta took care to lock it behind them. Kohta walked to the center of the room and sat down, stroking his pet fox-hound; when Jin sat down across from him, Kohta looked up and said "I received a letter this morning." He reached inside his shirt and showed it to Jin. "It was from an agent in Ba Sing Se. It said that we need to gather an army."

Jin's eyes narrowed. "You're a member of the White Lotus?"

Kohta nodded. "Yes. My father was also a member. A few weeks before he died, he sent a recommendation for me to the Grand Masters. A few months after, I was accepted into the Order of the White Lotus. My father left other letters, but I was instructed not to open them until I was a part of the White Lotus. They told me everything."

"So you know about the Order, then?"

"Yes. And the letter from the agent who met you told me about the Order's new plan. I assume that the Grand Masters have also received this letter."

"So, what should we do?"

"I have been in correspondence with the Grand Masters for over a year now. From what the moles inside the Order have told us, they plan to attack on New Year's. Their primary target will be Ba Sing Se."

"Ba Sing Se? Are they crazy?"

"Well, Ba Sing Se is an impenetrable fortress, and the Order will be relying on the element of surprise. With Ba Sing Se under control, the Order will have a perfect location to mount their assault." Kohta rubbed his chin with his hand. "But why New Year's Day? It provides them with no tactical advantage. Sozin's Comet would have been a better time for them to strike."

"Yeah, but Sozin's Comet came six years ago."

"Still, anything would make more sense. A solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse, the solstices, the equinoxes… there _is_ a full moon the day after New Year's, but…"

"Maybe it's symbolic. Their leader told me they planned to 'bring order' to the world."

"You met him?"

"I was captured by the Order. It's the reason why I have _this_." Jin indicated his right arm. "And it's also how I met… _her_." He couldn't bring himself to say Rei's name. Kohta asked, "It is really true? Can she really bend all four elements?" Jin's throat had swollen shut at the thought of Rei, rendering unable to speak, and he merely nodded in reply. Kohta noted Jin's discomfort and said, "I can see that is a painful subject for you. Perhaps it would be best if we spoke of something else." Jin's throat opened enough for him to croak, "That would be good."

Kohta stood up and retrieved a scroll from another part of the room; he returned and unrolled it on the floor, revealing a map of the world. "The Grand Masters have agreed to muster an army to help you, but they have requested that we choose a rallying point and a date for them to mobilize." Jin looked over the map, and pointed to the mouth of a river opening into a massive gulf on the eastern half of the former Earth Kingdom. "Here. Everyone will gather here."

"'Chameleon Bay,'" Kohta said, reading the name of the river mouth out loud. "Seems like a good location. When should everyone gather there?"

Jin thought for a few moments before saying, "Two weeks. Everyone has to gather there two weeks before the invasion, on the mark."

"I see. You should return to your training. I need to write to the Grand Masters about our discussion."

* * *

A few more days passed. Jin finally managed to stream the water properly, but doing so took immense effort; any break in his concentration caused the water to immediately fall from his grip. Song had moved on to the next technique- the water whip. Streaming the water had been difficult enough, but performing the water whip was nearly impossible; if he moved too fast, the water broke; if he moved too slowly, it broke; if he held on too long, it broke. The water refused to cooperate, seemingly no matter what he did. Finally, he approached Kohta, practically begging for his help.

"Jin," Kohta said to him, "water is different from the other elements. It needs balance. The water bends you just as much as you bend the water. If you flow, the water will flow with you." _That was helpful_, Jin thought to himself as he walked to the dock. He understood that bending was a very spiritual thing, but what he didn't understand is why people had to be so cryptic about it. It would make much more sense if people gave him actual advice, rather than vague clues that didn't help him at all. He stood at the end of the dock. He held out his arms and rocked back and forth, pushing the water below. He thought about the motions needed to move the water, the shifting of his weight, the center of his balance…

Jin had a sudden realization. He readied himself, dropping into the stance Master Song had showed him. He held out his arm and moved it, drawing up his entire body with it. The water rippled, a section rising slightly higher than the area around it. He repeated the action, the section of water rising with each repetition. Finally, the stream broke away from the water in the harbor and floated nebulously in the air in front of him. He pulled his arms back, shifting his weight to his heels, and the stream followed, floating between his hands. He moved his hand, shifting his weight along with it, and the stream followed, tracing his every movement.

Then he brought himself to the neutral stance, trying to remember the motions for the water whip. He "held" the water in his right hand, circling it behind his back onto his left hand. He brought his left hand up, and brought his right leg up, shifting all of his weight to his left. He brought his right hand back, and stepped forward, swinging his arm forward, snapping his wrist at the end. The water flowed quickly to follow, and when he snapped his wrist, the water snapped forward as well, a loud snap resonating within the cave when the motion was complete.

Jin's lessons moved much more smoothly from that day forward, but points would crop up where he struggled. But Jin and his friends had stayed for just under two weeks; he realized they would have to move on. He told Kohta this, and the two went to Master Song to inform her.

"I see," she said after Kohta explained the situation. "Kohta… I've been your teacher for these last several years, but you are both skilled enough and strong enough to stand on your own now. You're a waterbending master now- there is nothing left I have to teach you." Kohta bowed and said, "Thank you, Master." She crossed her room and retrieved a box before returning and giving it to Jin. "These scrolls contain waterbending techniques I have yet to teach you, Jin. Take good care of them, but bear in mind that they are no substitute for a real master."

"Thanks, but if you won't be teaching me, who will?."

"Then you'd better get used to calling Kohta _Master_ from now on." Jin bowed, still awkwardly holding the box. She turned to Kohta. "You know, you can't leave our tribe without a leader again. You need to name a successor."

"I already have someone in mind."

"You do?"

"Of course." He pointed at Song. "_You_." She was taken aback. "Me? You want me to lead the tribe?"

"I can think of nobody more capable than you." Song bowed awkwardly to the young Water Tribesman and said, "You should go to the rendezvous point. You need the time to prepare."

"But can't we travel together?" Jin asked. "The rendezvous is still weeks away. We have time."

"No. We need to muster our forces. Waiting for us will only cause you delays." Jin nodded, reluctant but understanding.

* * *

The five departed from the North Pole two days later. If the basket of the balloon hadn't been cramped before, it certainly was now. They flew southeast, toward the rendezvous point at Chameleon Bay. It was likely that this trip would be the last the balloon would take. They'd spent the entire day traveling, but with no solid land below, they had to keep flying through the night. Jin elected to take the first shift; this time, Kohta joined him. The two stood at the front of the basket, looking out over the ocean; unlike the last trip, the moon hung in the sky, its face shining brightly. Kohta stared intently at it for several minutes before saying, "You know, my father told me the moon was the first waterbender. He said that the people of the Water Tribes watched how it pushed and pulled the tides, and eventually learned how to do it themselves." Kohta leaned against the edge of the basket. "My family has a very special connection with the moon. It is said that long ago, one of my ancestors fell in love with the Moon Spirit."

"Really? Tell me about it."

"Well, the legend goes that during the war against the Fire Nation, a boy who traveled with the Avatar came to the Northern Water Tribe. His name was Sokka. He was from the Southern Water Tribe at the South Pole. Sokka met a girl named Yue. They fell in love, even though she was the chief's daughter. Then, the Siege of the North happened, and the mortal body of the Moon Spirit was killed. But, Yue had been touched by the Moon Spirit, and a piece of its life resided with her. So, she gave her life to the Moon Spirit, and brought its body back to life."

"Sokka? So then…"

"Yes. I am a son of Sokka."

"But I thought Sokka wasn't a waterbender."

"Sokka was not a waterbender, but he still carried the potential for it in his body. Some time later, one of Sokka's descendants met another who had the potential to be a waterbender, and… well, I think you can guess the result." The two stood silent for some time, then Jin said, "Kohta, there's something I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Hold on for just a second." Jin left the front of the basket to find his bag. He stepped over the sleeping bodies of his three friends as best he could, but accidentally caught someone with his foot as he bent down into his bag. "Urgh… _Jin!_" he heard Nina growl at him from the darkness. "Sorry," he said quickly, retrieving what he needed. He moved quickly back to the front of the basket and unrolled the scroll he had retrieved. It was the map the doctor had given him in Ba Sing Se. "Kohta, are there any White Lotus agents in this area?" Jin pointed to the small symbol denoting the ruins of Gaoling. Kohta scratched his head and replied, "No. At least, not to my knowledge."

"Then we have a serious problem."

* * *

Four days passed. The group had flown constantly through those four days, awakening in the night to carry out their shifts like clockwork. Finally, early one morning, the mouth of the river came into view, and several minutes later the basket thumped against the soft sand of the beach. The balloon rapidly deflated, and everyone jumped out, immensely relieved to have solid ground under them. Jin gave everyone a few moments to become situated before standing up to say, "Everyone. I have some bad news." Almost at once, everyone turned to him in rapt attention. "Um… I don't know how else to say this, but we need to go."

"Go where?" Yu asked. "We're here at the rendezvous point. I thought we were supposed to wait."

"I don't mean all of us. I meant just me... and Toph."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Toph, you and I need to go back to Bei Fong."

"Why?"

"A few nights ago, Kohta told me he'd never heard of a place called Bei Fong. _Nobody_ in the Order of the White Lotus has heard of it. You said that Bei Fong is the largest settlement of earthbenders in the world. If we're going to win this, we need all the help we can get."

Toph crossed her arms. "Do you really think you'll be able to get through to my parents?"

"Well, we have to try, don't we?"

She sighed. "I guess so." Kohta then asked, "But what about us?" Jin replied, "You guys should stay here at the rendezvous point. This is something we need to handle on our own." He jumped back into the basket, taking out all the bags except for Toph's and his own. Then, he started up the burner. "We'll be back in a few days. I promise. Come on, Toph." After a moment of hesitation, Toph approached and climbed into the basket as well.


	24. Chapter XXIV: Reunion

Chapter XXIV: Reunion

The two spent the next several hours flying. It was funny in a way, all those days spent traveling from Bei Fong, and now they were more than halfway there. The two spent most of the trip in silence- it reminded Jin so much of how _they_ had started out. The only thing he'd said while they flew had been: "It's just like old times, isn't it?" She replied in a low voice, "Yeah. It is." They'd reached the mountains above Bei Fong at sunset, but opted to camp for the night before heading down to the city. With the two of them sitting around the campfire, the picture of the past was now perfect. Jin looked at her, and swallowed hard- it didn't feel right, to bother her with this, but this was the first time in longer than he could remember that they were alone together. He asked, his voiced strained, "Toph?"

She looked over at him "What's on your mind?"

The words instantly caught in his throat. "Eh… narg…"

Toph raised her eyebrow. "What?" Jin thought to himself, _Come on, you can do better than this! Say something!_ He blurted out the first thing that came to him: "Your hair!" Toph frowned. "What about my hair?"

"Um… I… I think it looked better when it was short." She grabbed a lock of it; it now reached past her shoulders. "Well, it is getting kind of long… I guess it couldn't hurt to cut it when we get back." Jin said nothing as he pulled his legs to his chest, resting his head on his knees, and stared into the flickering light of the fire. _Great,_ he thought to himself. _Just great. That was real smart. Just blurt out the first thing that pops into your head! Works every time!_ Jin stared into the fire in silence.

* * *

Morning came. After the two had packed up and hidden the balloon, they continued onward on foot. As they walked, Toph suddenly stopped. "Hold on." She bent down and pressed her palm against the ground. "There's a tunnel right underneath us." Jin focused, seeing the rough outline of a tunnel under them in his mind. Toph knocked her fist against the ground- a few feet away, a section of ground collapsed into the tunnel. The two hopped inside; almost instantly, the ground closed up, leaving them in darkness. Jin focused again, feeling the vibrations of the earth. The inside of the tunnel appeared in his mind- the edges of various features were rough and undefined, like lines of chalk. He saw Toph walk to the tunnel wall and press her hand against it- her image flickered, as though fragments of her movements had been cut out.

"Well, we're in luck," she said. "It looks like we're in one of the escape tunnels. If we follow it, we should end up in the palace." Jin ignited a fire in his hand- the tunnel stretched into the darkness in front and behind him. "Which way?" Toph was silent for several moments, focusing. She then pointed to her left, to the section of tunnel in front of Jin. "That way." She stepped away from the wall, and the two began to walk down the tunnel.

The two walked for what felt like hours. The tunnel gradually sloped beneath their feet, bringing them deeper into the earth. After some time had passed, Toph said, "You know, you should probably put that out."

"Why?" Jin asked.

"Do you remember those glowing crystals that you followed to get out of here? Well, they don't work in the light. If you put your fire out, we'll be able to find them and follow the path back to the palace… unless you're afraid of the dark." Jin relented and snuffed out the fire, plunging the two into darkness. He asked, "Well, how am I supposed to see anything?"

"Just use your seismic sense, and stay close." Jin focused, the chalk outlines of the cave forming in his head. The two were silent for a while before Jin asked, "Toph? When you use the seismic sense, is everything supposed to be all…" He struggled to find the proper adjective. "… _choppy_?"

"Hmm? If everything looks choppy, that means you need to practice more. It smoothes out as you get better at it." Silence fell between the two again. Finally, a line of glowing crystals appeared on the tunnel ceiling. The two followed its glowing path. Jin felt as though he and Toph had been walking for hours- surely the path hadn't been nearly this long when he'd left. Then, Toph reached and grabbed his wrist. "We're here." Until that moment, Jin failed to realize that the range of his seismic sense had shrunk to a mere few feet, and he'd nearly walked into a wall. He heard Toph shift, and the wall slid open; the two had to shield their eyes from the light for a few moments. When their eyes adjusted, they looked, to see the clean white walls of the palace beyond.

Jin and Toph had taken only steps into the palace when a massive brown blob bounded across the courtyard toward them. Before either could react, the blob reached them, pinning both to the ground, and licked all over their faces. "Okay! _Okay!_ Stinky, get off!" The badgermole obeyed his master's request and climbed off the two. Toph stood up and hugged his head. "I missed you buddy," Toph whispered; Stinky made of soft sound in reply. She let go and said to Jin, "Come on. Let's get this over with." The two and Stinky circled around the building to their left- Jin remembered it as being the residence. They stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the building; before ascending, Toph said, "Wait here, Stinky." He made a sad noise, but laid down at the base of the steps. Toph began to ascend the steps, and Jin followed. At the top of the stairs, Toph pushed open the door.

The foyer beyond was larger than any room Jin had ever seen. Like the outside of the building, the foyer was made of a pure white stone. Toph grabbed Jin's wrist and pulled him toward one of the many hallways branching off the foyer. "Where are we going?" Jin asked as Toph dragged him along. She replied simply, "You'll see." They snaked through numerous hallways, Toph dragging Jin all the while. Finally, they came across a single person standing in front of a door. When he heard them approach, he began to turn, saying, "You guys are late. You know Master Jiang doesn't--" He froze when he saw the two of them, eyes widening in shock. "M-Master Toph! You're back! Hold on just a second!"

He turned and crashed through the door behind him. Within, an angry voice shouted "What is the meaning of this!?" Jin heard the man speak quickly, and the first voice asked, "She's… back?" The sound of hurried footsteps emerged and moments later, Toph's father stepped into the hall. He stared at her, eyes wide, mouth moving soundlessly. Finally, in a strained voice, he asked, "…Toph?" She stepped forward and nodded. "It's me, Dad." Toph's father approached apprehensively; finally, after what seemed like ages, he reached out and touched her face. Then, he threw his arms around her. "You're here! You're really here! Come, please! Your mother will be thrilled!" Toph and her father hurried away, Toph being half-dragged in the process. Jin was stunned- in that entire time, Toph's father had completely failed to notice him. He followed them as well.

Jin followed the two through the myriad hallways of the building. Finally, the two entered another room; as he approached, he could hear Toph's father say, "Honey! Look!" A gasp, and a woman's voice asked, "Toph? Is that really you?" A sob sounded as Jin finally reached the door; within, he could see Toph's mother embracing her. He entered, leaning against the wall beside the door. Toph's mother let go and said, "Toph… we were so worried about you. Where have you been this whole time?"

"…The surface."

"Toph, I thought we told you to never--" Toph's mother noticed the bandages over her right eye. "Toph, what happened to you?" Toph sighed and untied the bandages. Her parents gasped; Jin was glad he couldn't see Toph's face from his angle. Toph's parents looked from their daughter to where Jin stood. "You…" Toph's father began, "This is _your_ fault. Why did you come back?" Jin pushed himself away from the wall and asked, "You think this is my fault?" As he approached, Toph's mother- Jin hadn't caught her name- wrapped her arms around her daughter defensively. "No, stay back. You've caused enough damage." Jin straightened up and said, "You think I was responsible for that? Well, I lost something, too." He held up his right arm and pulled down the sleeve of his coat; the exposed metal glinted in the light of the room. Toph's mother gasped, her eyes widening in shock; Toph's father- Jiang was his name- narrowed his eyes.

"A group called the Order did this to me… to Toph," Jin said. "They're going to launch an invasion on New Year's. They _will_ find this place, and when they do, they'll take much more than just eyes or arms." Jiang opened his mouth to say something, but Toph's mother put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a hard look when he looked back at her. Jiang, receiving some sort of message, turned back to Jin and said, "My wife and I need to discuss this situation in private. Toph, you stay here. You-" Jiang pointed to one of the servants who had gathered by the door to watch the events unfold. The one he pointed to stood, livid; the others scattered. "You, take the Avatar to the guest room. And tell the guard captain to post sentries there. I don't want any disturbances." The servant nodded and said to Jin, "Right. Come with me please." Jin turned and left the room.

As Jin followed the servant, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. He hadn't intended to force compliance through intimidation or threats, but what he said was true. …_She_ was merciless. She would find this place. As to what happened next… Jin pushed the images from his mind. A few minutes passed and the servant brought Jin to a door. "Um, here you go," he said, and pushed Jin inside. Once Jin was inside, the servant closed the door. He looked around the room- like the rest of the palace, the walls and floor were made of some strange white stone, but save for a bed and a fairly large chest, the room was empty.

Jin crossed the room and flopped down on the bed. He knew that at that moment, Toph's parents were making their decision. Toph was with them, and would hopefully try to persuade them, but ultimately, they would make the final decision. Jin asked out loud, "Aang, do you think they'll side with us?" There was no reply; he sat up. "Aang?" This time, someone appeared, but it was not Aang, but a man with dark skin in a blue parka- Han. "Avatar Han?" Jin asked, "What are you doing here? Where's Aang?" Han replied, "Aang couldn't come."

"Why not?"

"It takes a lot of energy and concentration for a spirit to project itself into your world. Projecting his spirit so often has exhausted Aang; if you need to speak to him directly, you'll need to enter the Spirit World yourself."

"I don't need Aang. I just need someone to talk to."

"Of course. What do you need to talk about?"

"_This_. This whole situation."

"Is there anything specific you want to talk about?"

"Well, do you think Toph will be able to convince her parents to help us against the Order?"

"…I can't say."

"Is there anything I can do about this? I mean, if we can't convince them, then they'll want to take Toph back. I don't want to lose her. She's my earthbending teacher. I…" Jin reconsidered what he was about to say. "…She's my friend."

"I know that. And I know you'll need all the help you can get. But if you don't succeed, you'll have to move on. The Order isn't going to wait for you." Han faded away. Jin laid back on the bed and rolled onto his side. As he drifted into sleep, the last thing he thought was, _Toph, I hope you can do this. You have to. Please.

* * *

_

A knock awoke Jin some time later. He guessed it was still night, but with no sun, it was impossible to tell. As he sat up, the door creaked open; Toph's parents stepped into the room. Before Jin could ask any questions, Jiang said to him, "Just so you know, if this decision were up to me, you would be gone before sunrise. But… my wife trusts you, and assures me that you're telling the truth, as does Toph. So, tell me why you have come back."

Jin thought for a few moments. "The Order is raising an army for their invasion. The only way we'll have a shot at stopping them is to raise an army of our own. I need you to loan as many soldiers as you can to help us."

"And why should I do that? My people are perfectly safe here. And you expect me to risk their lives in a war against an enemy I have never even seen?"

Jin opened his mouth, but realized he had nothing to say. Jiang was right. Why should he risk the lives of his people? After all, if the White Lotus had never even heard of Bei Fong, it wasn't likely that the Order knew either. Their involvement would only put the city at risk. Disappointed in himself, Jin closed his mouth and looked away from Jiang.

Then Jin heard Toph's mother speak to Jiang in a hushed voice. They seemed to be arguing about something, but from his distance Jin couldn't determine precisely what. After a few minutes, Jiang turned to Jin and said, "My wife wishes to speak with you in private. Excuse me." He stood up and left the room. Jin watched him, then turned his attention to Toph's mother. He asked, "What's this about?" She sat in silence for several moments before replying, "I know my husband doesn't trust you. But I do. I'm not like him. And I know that you speak the truth." Jin stared for a few moments, not comprehending until she said, "The seismic sense can be used for much more than seeing one's surroundings. It can read people. A person has a physical reaction when they lie- their heart rate increases, their breathing becomes quicker and more shallow. But that didn't happen with you, or Toph." She moved closer to him. "I'm going to show you something. It's something that I've never shown even to my own husband."

Toph's mother reached into her dress and pulled out a small object. She showed it to Jin- it was a Pai Sho tile, with a white lotus flower painted on its surface. Jin stared at it in shock. "You… you're a part of the White Lotus? But I thought there weren't any in Bei Fong."

"There aren't, technically. My father initiated me, but an initiate needs to be approved by the Grand Masters before they can be accepted into the order. And obviously, we haven't had any contact with the surface in some time." She paused, and moved even closer to Jin. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you've returned. The world needs the Avatar to maintain balance. But you need our help to maintain that balance."

"So does that mean…"

"Yes. I know my husband opposes it, but we will give you soldiers to aid you. But in exchange, there's something I need to ask you." She took Jin's hand and held it in her own. "Toph has told me of her experiences on the surface, and I know better than to try and keep her from leaving this place. So I must ask… that you protect her."

"Toph's perfectly capable of protecting herself."

"Please. Promise me that you'll keep her safe. She means so much to me. I would forever be in your debt for it." Jin tightened his grip around her hand. "Alright. I'll keep Toph safe." Before he could react, she wrapped her free arm around Jin and pulled him close, trembling. "Thank you… thank you so much." She released him. "You said you were gathering an army. Tell me, do you have a rendezvous point?"

Jin nodded.

"I see." She reached inside her dress and pulled out a scroll. She unrolled it, revealing it to be a map of the world; it denoted only four nations, rather than the seventeen on his. As she held it up to him, she said, "I need to know where the rendezvous point is, as well as the date your army is meeting." Jin glanced over the map before pointing to the river mouth at Chameleon Bay. "We're meeting here, two weeks before New Year's."

"I understand. I need to discuss this with my husband. Good night." Toph's mother turned to leave the room, but before she could take a step, Jin said, "You know, I didn't catch your name. Mine's Jin." She looked back at him and replied, "My name is Toph Bei Fong, the thirteenth heir of the name Toph." _So it's true_, Jin thought to himself, remembering what Toph had told him. _They really_ are _all named Toph_. She left the room. Jin laid back on the bed, and made himself comfortable; the last thing he thought before he fell asleep was, _She must have a confusing family history_.

Jin awoke some time later- he still had no idea what time it was. He sat up, and immediately saw Toph leaning against the wall across his bed. When she saw him looking at her, she said, "I don't know what you said to my parents last night, but it worked. They're recruiting soldiers in the city right now."

"Well that's good," he replied. "So… what should we do now?"

"We've done everything we had to, right? I guess we should get back to the others." Jin nodded, remembering the fourth rule. "I guess so." He stood up. "Well, we should get going."

* * *

An hour or so passed, and Jin and Toph were on the surface again, drifting back to their friends. The wind was calm, so there was no danger of drifting off course. Jin sat near the front of the basket, looking out over the landscape below. He was drawn out of his thoughts when Toph asked, "Is everything alright?" He looked back and replied, "I've been thinking… the invasion's only a month away, and since we talked to your parents…" He fell silent.

"What? What is it?"

"Well, my hometown's nearby, so I thought… maybe I should see my mom. You know, before we have to start preparing." He asked, "Do you think I should go see her?" Toph fell silent for several moments before she replied, "If it's important to you, then I think you should go see her." Jin looked back over the edge of the basket. "Alright. Gashuin isn't too far from here. We should land nearby and camp for the night; I'll talk to my mom in the morning."


	25. Chapter XXV: Truth

Chapter XXV: Truth

The two had landed near sunset, and camped for the night on the outskirts of the town. Jin had been apprehensive, and hardly slept at all that night. As he lay awake in his sleeping bag, he asked himself over and over again, _What should I tell her?_ His mother was an understanding person, but this news… how would anyone react to something like this? He thought long and hard, playing with different ideas, trying to ready himself for all the myriad ways his mother would react, until the sky began to glow in the dull light of the rising sun.

Finally, he climbed out of his sleeping bag. Toph stirred and asked, "Jin? Are you okay?" Jin nodded. "Yeah. I… I'm just a little bit nervous about this. What should I tell her?"

"Just tell her the truth. That's what I did with my mom, and it worked okay."

"Alright then. I should go."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Uh, no, that's alright. I can handle this." He began to walk away. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can." As Jin walked down the road leading to the town, to his surprise, the memories returned. He shouldn't have been so surprised- after all, he had only been gone for a few months. His home was near the edge of the town, something he found to be both a blessing and a curse- he could get over with this sooner, but with the shorter walk, he would have less time to prepare. After a few minutes, he stopped. He was here.

He was home.

Jin had left only a few months prior, but already that day seemed so distant in his memory. He approached the door, a knot building in his stomach. He still had no idea what he was going to say. Finally, he was at his doorstep; trembling, he brought up his hand and knocked.

Nothing happened at first. He thought for a moment that she might have been out for the moment, or that maybe she hadn't heard the first knock. He reached up to knock again when the door opened, and Jin found himself face to face with his mother. His mind went blank. He had the rather sudden realization that she wasn't especially tall- even at his age, Jin was only a few inches shorter than her. He wondered if it was because ha had gotten taller, of if he simply hadn't noticed until now. Silence floated between the two until Jin's mother asked, "Jin? Is that really you?" He nodded absentmindedly in reply. Then, she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Jin! It's so good to see you again! Please, come inside!" She pulled him into the house, closing the door behind them. Jin looked around; everything was just the same as when he had left. Before he could react, there was a squawking sound, and a bird perched itself on Jin's shoulder. "Hey Tian," Jin said, stroking his messenger hawk. "I missed you." The bird made a chirp in reply. He walked to the center of the room and sat down at the table, Tian hopping onto the table; his mother sat across from him.

"Is everything okay, Jin? Do you want anything?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. I can't stay for very long anyways."

"She leaned toward him over the table. "Why not?"

He scratched his head, trying to think of how to explain himself. _This_ would be the hardest part. "Mom, I… don't really know how to say this, but… well…"

"What's wrong? Tell me."

"… Maybe it would be best if I showed you." Jin held up his arm, focusing on the water boiling in the pot over the fire behind his mother. As he moved his arm, a stream of water lifted itself from the pot and floated over to where he sat. His mother looked back, staring at the stream with an incredulous look on her face. As it passed nearby, she screamed, breaking Jin's focus and causing the water to fall to the floor. She buried her face in her hands, mumbling, "No… this can't be happening… how…" There was no point in hiding it anymore. "Mom, the truth is, I didn't go away to find myself. I went away because I found out something very important. I found out… that I'm the Avatar."

She looked up from between her hands. "You're… the Avatar?" As carefully as he could, Jin pulled a piece of earth from the ground and compressed it into a sphere. At the same time, he drew a stream of water from the puddle on the floor, and pulled it in a circle around the earth sphere. Finally, he circled the sphere with two additional rings: one of fire, and one of hardened air. Jin's mother looked at the display, and asked, "How did this happen?"

"Well, it isn't like I asked for this." Jin began to tell his story from the beginning, when Aang first appeared to him. He told how he first met Toph, and how they had traveled west to Roku's Island, where the two of them had found Nina, and where they had fought an entire armada. He told how the three of them traveled to the Northern Air Temple where they met Yu. He told of how they had been captured by the Order, where he met Rei, and how he lost his arm; his mother recoiled in horror when he showed her his prosthetic. He continued, telling of their escape, and how they traveled to the North Pole and met Kohta. He finished with their plan to meet their forces at Chameleon Bay, and to travel to Ba Sing Se to face the Order on New Year's.

When Jin finished, his mother sat in silence for several minutes. Finally, she said to him, "I suppose this is what I get." She stood up. "You didn't tell me that you are the Avatar until now. But there's been something that I've been keeping from you, something I've kept from you ever since you were born."

"What? What is it?"

"I've never told you about your father. I didn't tell you because… well, I didn't know how you would react. I thought that if I told you the truth, you would hate him… and you would hate me too."

"You know I'd never hate you. Why would you think something like that?"

"I met your father when I was younger. His name was Kachi. He came here from some faraway place, and he was instantly smitten by me, of all people. Then one day he proposed to me; I was so happy, but before I could say yes, he said there was something he had to show me. He showed me… that he was an earthbender."

Jin gasped slightly. "He was?"

"Yes. And at first, I was terrified. I'd heard the stories of the benders. But, Kachi wasn't like that. He was kind, and he told me that he had never used his bending to hurt someone. He asked if I would still accept his proposal; even though he was an earthbender, it didn't change the way I felt for him, and I said yes. A few years passed, and we lived together happily. But someone had found out that he was an earthbender, and one night, the other villagers came to our house, and took your father away from me. I never saw him again. But at the time, I didn't know what had happened. You see, before he left, Kachi gave me something. He gave me the most precious thing I have ever had… You." She stood up and walked around the table to Jin. She placed her hand on his face. "You… remind me of him… so much…" Tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

Jin stood and embraced his mother. "Mom, it's okay," he said, unsure how he should comfort her. She pushed away from him slightly to look at him. "Jin… I always knew that there was something special waiting for you. But this… I… I never expected something like this. But I want you to know… I'm proud of you. And I'm sure your father would be proud too."

"Thank you." Jin held his mother tightly. "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Promise me that when this is over, you'll come see me in Ba Sing Se. I want to introduce you to my friends."

She pulled away from him again, and looked deep into his eyes, smiling. "I can't wait to meet them."

* * *

Toph uncovered the balloon once she saw Jin approach. When he reached her, she noticed the hawk on his shoulder. "You got your bird back," she said, and then asked, "Did everything go okay?" He nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry that I took so long."

"It's okay. You probably had a lot of explaining to do anyway." There was a short pause before Jin said, "Well, we should get back to Chameleon Bay. We have to start preparing now." Toph nodded, and the two prepared the balloon for takeoff.

The sun had nearly set when the two finally reached the camp. When they landed, the others approached to help. "You're back!" Yu said excitedly. Nina asked, "What took you guys so long?"

As the envelope of the balloon deflated, Jin hopped out of the basket and replied, "Sorry, things took a little bit longer than we thought they would. But we're back now, and we can start getting ready for the invasion."


	26. Chapter XXVI: Downtime

Chapter XXVI: Downtime

Nina, Yu, and Kohta watched as the balloon slowly drifted away. "Do you think they'll come back soon?" Yu asked. Nina walked a short distance away, and stretched herself out on the ground, replying, "I'm sure they will." Kohta looked over at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm relaxing."

"What we _should_ be doing is preparing for the invasion."

"Well, shouldn't we wait until they get back?" Before Kohta could respond, Yu said, "I think Nina's right, Kohta. We can't really do anything until Jin and Toph come back. And besides, considering everything that's happened, I think we all need to unwind a little." He sat down on the ground next to Nina. After several moments, Kohta sat down next to Nina as well. "Well, if you two insist."

"That's the spirit," Nina said. "It'll be nice to have a little break; it hardly ever happens. So we should enjoy it."

* * *

Some time passed, and the three of them set up their camp. When it was done, the three split up: Kohta went to train, Nina relaxed on the soft sands of the beach, and Yu had wandered off by himself. Nina looked over at Kohta; he was still training, manipulating numerous streams of water, seemingly effortlessly. She also noticed Yu had returned; he was hunched over, staring at something on the ground intently. Curious, she stood up and went to see.

As she approached, she saw he was staring intently at a puddle on the ground. When she was behind him, she asked, "What are you looking at, Yu?" He jumped slightly, but after a moment, replied, "I was thinking about something."

"What?"

"Well, I was thinking about what I should do with my hair." He looked into the puddle again. "I thought about cutting it off, but I like it."

"If you ask me, I think you should keep it." Nina bent down and took a piece of his hair. "But you should trim it a little. It'll look better."

"You think so?"

"Sure. I have a pair of scissors you can borrow. I'll be right back." She left, and returned a few moments later, handing him her scissors. He took them, and stared back into the puddle, trying to decide what to do. Yu remained motionless for several minutes until Nina asked, "Do you want me to help you?"

"Uh… yeah." He handed back the scissors, and she started working, trimming back his hair. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Yu asked, "Can I ask you something, Nina?"

"Sure."

"Why are your eyes yellow? Is that normal?" Nina stopped for a moment, surprised that he had even noticed such a small detail. She replied, "Don't worry, my eyes are just fine. My mom used to tell me that it meant my family was royalty before the war."

"Royalty? You mean like the Fire Lord?"

"Maybe. It doesn't really matter though."

"Of course it does. I mean, if you're the Fire Lord--"

"Did you forget about the war? Even if I was the Fire Lord, it isn't like there's a Fire Nation left to rule, you know." She finished cutting his hair. "Okay, I'm done. What do you think?" Yu peered into the puddle again; his hair was a little bit shorter now, but it looked… cleaner, somehow. He ran his hand through it. "Wow. This isn't too bad at all. Thanks, Nina."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Night soon came. The three gathered firewood as the sun began to set, and Nina lit it with her firebending. Nina and Yu sat around the fire, while Kohta slinked off somewhere. "Why does he always go off by himself? Do you think he doesn't like us?" Yu asked. Nina thought for a few moments before replying, "I don't think it's that. I think Kohta just likes to be doing stuff. He'll probably be like this until Toph and Jin get back."

"Do you think they'll be okay by themselves?"

"Please. Those two have been taking care of themselves long before any of us met them. I'm sure they'll be fine." A few moments later, Kohta returned, holding several, obviously dead animals. "Where did you go?" Yu asked.

"I was finding food," Kohta replied, sitting in front of the fire.

"You know, you didn't have to. We have food with us."

"I know. But I think we should conserve our supplies, at least for tonight. Tomorrow, we can see if there is a town nearby where we can buy supplies." He took off his parka, and laid the various animals he'd caught down on it: several fish, two birds of some kind, and a snake covered in what appeared to be spines. He thought for a few moments before grabbing the snake, stabbing a stick through it, and holding it over the fire. Nina tentatively reached for a fish before poking a stick through it and holding it over the fire as well. She and Kohta looked on in surprise when Yu did the same; when his fish was over the fire, she asked, "I thought the Air Nomads didn't eat meat."

Yu leaned back slightly and replied, "Well we don't, on principle at least. But it isn't like we can grow anything up in the mountains. And between changing your principles and starving to death, I think anyone would agree that change would be for the better." He pulled his fish from the fire and examined it for a few moments before looking at Kohta to ask, "You aren't really going to eat that, are you?"

"Well… why not? I _have_ eaten arctic snakes before. Though I am sure this will not be exactly like an arctic snake."

"But it's all… spikey."

"I could just fish out the meat with a stick."

"Oh." There was silence between the three. Finally, Yu spoke again, saying, "I really hope Master Tenzin is okay."

"Who?" Kohta asked.

"Master Tenzin. He was my airbending teacher. He taught me everything I know. Well, almost everything."

"What happened to him?"  
Nina took over the story. "Well, when Jin was at the Air Temple learning airbending, the Order found us. They captured us, along with everyone else in the temple."

"I heard from Jin how your group was captured, but I had no idea that the entire Northern Air Temple had been taken. To lose everyone you know, it must be unimaginable- your friends, your master, your parents…"

"I don't have any parents," Yu said.

"What?"

"I said I don't have any parents." Yu's voice lowered. "It's something else that made me different from the other kids there. It used to be that the Air Nomads separated a child from their parents after they were born, to be raised in another Air Temple. That's something else they had to change after the war. But even though most of the kids at the temple knew their parents, I didn't. Mater Tenzin was the one who raised me. But no matter how much I asked him, he wouldn't tell me about them."

"Well, what do you think?" Nina asked.

"Well… my guess is that since Master Tenzin won't talk about it, he must have found me outside the temple." He stood up. "It's getting late. I'm going to go to bed." He headed into his tent. Nina and Kohta sat in silence for a few moments before Nina said, "Wow. He never told us he didn't have any parents. I feel bad for him. But at least he had someone to raise him." Kohta asked, "What do you mean?"

"Back on Roku's Island, my mom raised me. Though you wouldn't have been able to guess, from the way I acted. She was always really sick, but she did everything she could to take care of me. I never really appreciated her for it though. Then, when I was about eleven, her illness got her."

The two were silent for some time before Kohta said, "My mother died when I was very young. My father raised me by himself. He taught me to be strong, so that one day, I would be able to lead my tribe. But two years ago, he and his hunting party were caught in a storm. They made it back to the island, but all of them fell ill soon after returning; they all gradually recovered, except for my father. Weeks passed, and he only grew worse. He knew he was dying. So he did everything he could to prepare me to succeed him. He told me all about the White Lotus and the Order, and initiated me. He died a week later. I remember the last thing my father said to me. He said, 'Son, I have done all I can. But I realize there are some things I can never prepare you for. But be strong, and always remember that you are a waterbender. Remember your training, and bend with the challenges life presents you, but never let them break you.'"

He fell silent. The silence remained between them until Nina stood up and made her way to her tent.

* * *

Nina awoke early the next morning. She left her tent; the sun had risen just above the horizon, bathing the sky in an orange light. Kohta was already awake, training by the water's edge. There was no sign of Yu. She approached him and said, "Good morning Kohta." Without looking back, he replied, "Good morning Nina."

"Where's Yu? Is he awake yet?"

Kohta let the stream of water he was manipulating collapse back into the ocean before he looked back replying, "Yu left at dawn. He said he was going to find a town and buy supplies." He turned back to the water and resumed his work. Nina sighed; if Yu had gone to find a town, it would just be her and Kohta. And from what she was able to gather in the short time she'd known him, he wasn't exactly the most talkative of people. So she sat on the beach, back toward him, and ignited a fire in her hands. She breathed in and out slowly, the flame's intensity increasing with each inhale, and diminishing with each exhale. It was a basic exercise, but one of the best for learning control and proper breathing.

She continued for some time before she heard the familiar sounds of blowing wind and a soft thump against the ground. She opened her eyes; sure enough, Yu stood nearby, a bag slung across his shoulder. He dropped the bag near the remains of their fire before approaching them to say, "I'm back. And I got everything we need."

"That's good," Nina said, but noticed he still had something slung over his shoulder. His body partly obscured it, but it was round, and shone in the light of the sun. She asked, "What is that?" He shifted, hesitant to reply, giving Nina enough of a glimpse to identify the object. She buried he forehead in the palm of her hand. "_Please_ tell me you didn't buy a tsungi horn. Tell me _anything_ but that."

"I did," Yu replied, ignoring her request.

"Why in the world would you buy that!? We don't need it!"

"Sure we do. Well, _I_ do." He lifted the tsungi horn so he could slide it over his other shoulder, positioning it by his waist. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this." He took a deep breath. Immediately, Nina clapped her hands over her ears; behind her, out of her line of sight, Kohta did the same. But there was no sound. Nina opened her eyes cautiously.

Yu stood in front of her. His face was flushed, blowing into the horn with all of his might, but no sound emerged from the end. She said to him, "You wasted your money. That thing's broken." He slid the tsungi horn off and held it up, motioning for her to try. He approached and took the horn, before bringing the mouthpiece up to her mouth and blowing into it; the tone that emerged from the horn nearly made her drop it in surprise. As he took the horn back, she sputtered, "How… what…"

"It's a special technique for airbending. Master Tenzin figured out that I had a gift for it about a year ago and taught it to me. He called it _soundbending_."

"Soundbending? How does that work?"

"Well, Mater Tenzin told me that sound is made up of vibrations, and that certain airbenders can control these vibrations. They can completely stop these vibrations, amplify them, or compress them down to a focused wave, like this." Yu turned, and pointed the end of the horn at a large rock buried in the beach. Then, he took a deep breath and blew into the horn. Immediately, a narrow blast of air flew from the horn and punched through the rock with ease. Nina looked on, stunned; from her position, she could see the hole the blast had created.

"That is an impressive technique, Yu," Kohta finally said. "But I thought the Air Nomads avoided offensive techniques."

"They do. And I'll admit, these are some of the most dangerous techniques in all of airbending, but they can be used to incapacitate rather than kill." He then asked, "What about you? Do you know any special bending techniques?"

"In my tribe, there were some people who had the ability to control the water inside a living being. I have no talent for it, though. But I _do_ know a special technique that allows me to heal the injuries of another."

"That sounds useful." Yu turned to Nina. "What about you?"

"I can make lightning. And that reminds me, I have to start training Jin to use that again."

"And I could teach Jin how to soundbend." He looked back at Kohta. "And you could teach him how to heal people." Kohta then replied, "I am afraid not. Only a certain number of waterbenders are able to learn how to heal others."

Yu rested the horn against the ground. "Ugh. I really hope Toph and Jin get back soon. All this talk of special bending techniques just reminds me of how much we have to do before everyone arrives."

* * *

The remainder of the day passed without incident. The third day passed much the same way. At sunset, as they sat around their campfire, Yu said, "I'm staring to get worried. Shouldn't they be back by now?"

"Well, it's not like we know where this Bei Fong place is. I'm sure they'll be back as soon as they can," Nina replied. She looked up at the sky, and immediately spotted something moving. "Wait. What's that up there?" The three looked up at the object; it was incredibly far away, but the shape was unmistakable. "The balloon," Kohta said. "It has to be them." Yu stood and jumped several feet into the air. "All right! They're back! Come on, we have to help them land the balloon."

The others stood up, and when the balloon drew closer, they rushed over to help. Yu grabbed a rope and tied it around a nearby rock, saying excitedly "You're back!" Nina tied down another rope and asked, "What took you guys so long?"

As the envelope of the balloon deflated, Jin hopped out of the basket and replied, "Sorry, things took a little bit longer than we thought they would. But we're back now, and we can start getting ready for the invasion."


	27. Chapter XXVII: Night Terrors

Chapter XXVII: Night Terrors

Jin stood alone on the beach. He looked to his left, then to his right. They were out there somewhere, waiting to strike. The sound of sloshing water alerted him immediately. He turned to see a stream of water rushing toward him; he swung his arm upward, raising a wall of sand to block it. Through the sand, he could see the blurry form of Kohta, hurriedly bending another stream at him. Before he could finish, Jin thrust out his arm, creating a column of sand that tossed Kohta out into the ocean.

Behind him, he could feel a rock flying at him. Blindly, he reached back and caught it, before crushing it in his hand. He responded by lashing out several tendrils of sand, but Toph was easily able to divert them. He wasn't surprised; she had been learning how to sandbend as well, and did so with much more skill than him. But he had an idea- he felt out where she was, and once he found her, he held out his arms and pulled them back. Toph hadn't prepared herself, and the gust of wind Jin created knocked her off her feet. Before she could stand up again, he sank her in the earth, trapping her arms and legs.

There was no time to relax, because almost immediately, a massive jet of fire flew toward him. He held out his arms, hands together, slicing a path in the flames. The jet died away to reveal Nina. She shot several fireballs at him, which Jin blocked with a sand wall. He then drove his heel into the ground, sending a fissure through the wall toward Nina. In the few moments she was knocked off balance, Jin quickly bent as much water as he could from the ocean. Then, Nina's attack broke through the wall. But he was ready. She launched numerous fireballs at him, but Jin blocked each one with his water whips. She was so focused on him that she didn't notice the tendril of sand rising from the ground behind her. He hurled the water at him- unsurprisingly, she quickly evaporated it with a fire jet. But before she could begin her next attack, Jin's arm shot out, his hand forming a fist, and pulled back; mimicking his movement, the tendril shot out, gripped Nina's ankle, and drew back, sending her sprawling.

The wind behind Jin suddenly picked up. In anticipation, Jin drove his heel into the ground, raising a rock wall; the airbending move slammed harmlessly into it and rapidly dispersed. Suddenly, he felt Yu leave the ground; he looked up to see Yu above him, staff drawn back for a strike. Thinking quickly, Jin crossed his arms over his chest, drawing a sphere of sand around him. He then threw his arms out to his sides, fingers splayed; in response, spikes shot from the surface of the sphere. He heard a muffled yelp of surprise, and a blowing of wind before feeling Yu land on the ground again. Jin's arms shot forward, hurling a mass of sand at Yu, but with a swing of his staff, he blew it away. Jin then launched a jet of fire at Yu, but he spun his staff, the motion extinguishing the flames. Jin then brought up two rocks- a large one he shoved at Yu, and another he held onto. Yu swung his staff again, splitting the larger rock in two. Seizing this opportunity, Jin threw the rock with all his might. Yu had no time to prepare for it; it struck him square in the chest, knock him off his feet and onto his back. Jin was shocked. It was the first time he'd managed to defeat all four of his friends. He began to celebrate. "Yes! I did it! I--"

"--should pay more attention to your surroundings," Nina said, jabbing two fingers directly between Jin's shoulder blades. _Well_, he thought to himself, _I guess I asked for that by gloating_. "But you did a good job. You almost beat us." He held out his arm, releasing Toph from the ground. "Almost isn't good enough."

Toph approached and said, "We still have two weeks. That's plenty of time for you to get better. And who knows? Maybe by then you'll beat us." Yu stood up, rubbing his chest, and said, "We'll worry about that later. Right now you need to practice your soundbending, Jin. Come on."

That had been the schedule for the group for the last two weeks- after breakfast, Jin would spar with one (or more) of his friends, and then spend the rest of the day practicing the special bending techniques. Jin's soundbending training progressed slowly; he had been learning it since he'd returned, but had only just learned how to suppress vibrations in the air. His sandbending had progressed faster than his soundbending, though Toph had learned it faster than he did. Kohta, at the urging of the others, had tried to teach Jin how to heal with waterbending- to their surprise, Jin was able, but he progressed so slowly that Kohta eventually elected to drop it in favor of more traditional waterbending. The only special technique he didn't seem to struggle with was lightning. Some days ago, Nina had brought him out on the beach, far from the campsite. When she felt they had traveled far enough, she stopped and said, "Jin, I have to admit, there isn't much left to teach you about lightning, but there's one technique I still haven't taught you. You probably won't ever need it, but you should still learn it just in case."

"What?" Jin asked. "What is it?"

"I've taught you how to create lightning, but there's a special technique that allows a person to absorb lightning, and redirect it."

"You can redirect lightning?"

"Yes. To create lightning, you must manipulate the energy within your body; you must do the same thing to redirect it. If you let the energy in your body flow, the lightning will follow it." She held up her left arm. "Start by creating a path from your fingertips…" She held up her other arm, and traced a path from her fingertips to her shoulder. "…down your arm to your shoulder…" She traced another line from her shoulder to her stomach. "…then, to your stomach. Then from your stomach, you direct your energy up, and out your other arm." She drew her right arm from her stomach and out in the opposite direction of her left one, completing the motion. She then dropped her arms and pointed at Jin's chest. "The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or the damage could be lethal. Try it with me- it helps to get a feel for the motion." She held up her left arm again; Jin held up his right. He mirrored each one her movements, trying to feel the energy flow through his body. He couldn't help but feel that the technique felt familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it until…

"This technique reminds me of my training with Kohta," Jin said. "He always says waterbending is about more than just moving water- he says it's about moving the energy inside you as well." Nina replied, "You're pretty sharp. It _is_ a waterbending technique, or it's based on one, at least. It's said that a general in the Fire Nation military created this technique after studying the waterbenders. So, can you feel the energy flow?"

"I think so. Can I try it? Redirecting lightning, I mean."

"What are you crazy? Lightning is dangerous. I'm not just going to start shooting it at you."

"Well how else am I supposed to learn? Do I have to wait until a thunderstorm rolls in?"

"If you want. But I'm not shooting lightning at you. I'd rather _not_ have to explain to the others how I accidentally killed the one last hope for the world."

Jin sighed, "Fair enough."

A few hours passed. Jin learned the motion, but because Nina wouldn't use lightning against him, he couldn't be sure he had it right. But either way, he was still exhausted from his sparring session- after all, it had been the first time he defeated all of his friends. Well, almost defeated all of them. Night fell, and after they ate dinner, the group headed into their tents for the night. Jin erected an earth tent for himself, climbed into his sleeping bag, made himself comfortable, and soon fell asleep.

* * *

Jin found himself in the armory. He watched as Rei threw out an air swipe, knocking Nina clear across the room. Seeing an opening, Jin swiped his arm, sending out a wind scythe. Rei was able to avoid most of it, but a corner caught the side of her face, leaving a deep cut.

Rei turned to him, an expression of unfathomable rage etched into her face, her eyes burning with the fire of a thousand suns. In the space of less than a second, she withdrew the stream of water again and swung it at Jin.

He stood for several seconds before light thump against the ground drew his attention. He looked, and saw an arm lying on the ground. He looked at his right shoulder, only to be met with empty air. He brought his other arm to where his shoulder had been, and touched it- it was warm. His shoulder flared with pain. He collapsed to his knees, the sound of screaming in his ears. But there was something… different. The armory was suddenly empty, except for him… and Rei. She drew back the water stream; he knew what was coming. He tried to stand up, to get away, bit his body refused to obey. The stream flew forward, and buried itself in his chest.

* * *

Jin awoke with a start. He sat up, a phantom pain still lingering in his chest. His heart pounded in his chest, but slowed to a steady pace after several deep breaths. Jin had had nightmares about that incident in the past, especially in the first few weeks after it happened, but this was different. Ordinarily, things played out normally, but this time… Jin stood up and opened his tent; there was no way he would get back to sleep. It didn't matter anyway- he guessed it would be only an hour or so before the sun rose. So, he would start training before the others awoke. He walked from the camp down to the ocean. Without stopping, he continued, but rather than walking through the water, we walked on its surface, the water freezing on contact. He continued for a good distance, then, when he felt he had gone far enough, created a large platform of ice. Then Jin began his training.

About an hour passed before the sun rose. Yu, as always, was up first. When he emerged from his tent, he spotted Jin right away and called out, "Hey Jin! What are you doing up so early?" Jin jumped off the ice platform back onto the beach- an easy feat thanks to airbending- and replied, "Well, I woke up early and I couldn't get back to sleep. So I figured I'd get some training done before the rest of you woke up." Jin chose to omit the reason why he had woken up early.

"Oh, well, since both of us are awake, how about we keep going with your soundbending?"

"I don't know." Jin shrugged his shoulders. "It's kind of early and I don't want to wake--"

"Hold on just a second," Yu interrupted. "Move your arm again." Jin moved his prosthetic arm, and noticed there was a small rattle inside. "That doesn't sound good. But I can fix that for you. Do you still have that tool?"

"Um, yeah. Hold on." Jin went to retrieve the tool from his pack. When he returned, Yu said, "Now, I'll need see your arm." Jin reached up and unplugged his arm; it caused a slight jolt of pain, but it faded rapidly. "Okay," Yu said, taking the arm. "I'll be done as soon as I can." Jin watched as Yu took apart his arm- he seemed excited, like a child with a new toy, but also incredibly focused on his task. Jin marveled at the inside of his arm- he had been too afraid to inspect the inside himself, out of fear of breaking it, but being able to see the wires and gears and rods inside was nothing short of incredible.

After a few minutes, Yu closed up the arm and said, "Well, it wasn't anything too major, just a loose nut. But we were lucky we found it before you arm suffered any serious damage, and I tightened up everything for good measure."

"You really know your way around machines. Is it a hobby of yours?"

"I guess so. I mean, I worked on the steam engines sometimes back at the Northern Air Temple, and I've always liked to learn how things worked." He shook his head. "Anyway, I guess we'll do some normal airbending until the others wake up."

The rest of the day passed. After breakfast, Jin sparred with Kohta (it was a tie), then practiced soundbending with Yu. It was still difficult, but now that he had learned to suppress vibrations, Yu had said, the process would go much smoother. When night fell, Jin, exhausted from his training, crawled into his sleeping bag and slept.

* * *

"Hey. _Hey_. _Jin_. Wake up. Come on, wake up." Jin grumbled and opened his eyes, becoming acutely aware of a pain in his limbs. His heart stopped when he saw the person who had awoken him.

_Rei_.

"Sleep well?" She asked in a mockingly sweet voice. Jin tried to stand up, but his body refused- he looked and saw his back had been sunk into the wall of his earth tent, his hands and feet trapped in the ground. He struggled, but couldn't free himself. He cried out for help, but Rei only laughed at him. "Don't bother," she said. "I've already taken care of your friends. It's just you and me." She approached him. "How did you find us?" he asked.

"Does it matter?"

"So, what now? You're gonna kill me too?"

"Actually, I had something… _different_ in mind for you." She brought up her arm and pulled off her glove, before doing the same with her other glove. "What are you doing?" Jin asked. She replied, "I'm getting ready," as she untied one of her vambraces, letting it fall to the ground. "You and I are going to have a little… _fun_." Her other vambrace fell to the ground, as did her breastplate. She bent down and untied her greaves, letting them fall to the floor, before stepping out her shoes. She continued to approach, now wearing only a form-fitting black top and an equally form fitting pair of pants that she wore underneath her armor. But Rei wasn't finished; she pulled the top over her head and let it fall to the floor. She bent down, and pulled off her pants, leaving her only in bindings she wore over her chest and a very short pair of shorts.

Jin could only watch these events unfold in abject horror. But there was something else, something that he found very wrong. As he watched, he swore he could feel his pants tighten. No, that was impossible. There's no way that he could possibly have been… _aroused_ by any of this, right?

_Right?_

Rei got down on her hands and knees and slowly crawled towards him. He thrashed against the stone holding him, but it was no use- he couldn't break himself out. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body, and looked deep into his eyes; he could see… _something_ there. It wasn't hate, but… _oh no_. He filled his head with the unsexiest things he could imagine, repeating in his head over and over, _Please don't notice please don't notice please don't notice please--_

All thoughts immediately ceased when a hand was pressed into his crotch. "Hmm, you're still not ready. _Let me help you with that_." She rubbed slowly, making his half-erect member stand at full attention.

_Dammit._ Why was this happening to him? Rei was his enemy! For the love of Aang, she'd tried to kill him! How could he possibly be aroused by _her_?

She stroked his face with her other hand; he whimpered and tried to pull away, in vain. She leaned close and whispered huskily in his ear, "Don't be afraid. The first time, I _promise_ I'll be _gentle_." Then, she pressed her lips against his, and began rapidly working his jaws apart with her tongue. He whimpered again, and tried to pull away, but Rei held him firmly in place. He shivered when her tongue slid across his. He had always wondered what his first kiss would be like, but this couldn't have been further from what he wanted. How could-- hold on, did he just moan?

Oh no.

No no no no no no no no. This was unacceptable. Rei fondling him was one thing, but to consciously _enjoy_ what she was doing…

* * *

Jin shot bolt upright with a loud gasp. He rested his head in his hands, heart pounding, sweating profusely, trying to calm his breathing. After several moments, Jin calmed himself, silently thanking whatever power that had allowed him to awaken. Ever so slightly, he lowered a wall of his earth tent; the slit of pure darkness beyond indicated it was still night. He closed up his earth tent and leaned against one of the walls, resting. There was no way he was going back to sleep; he didn't know what Dream Rei had started, but he was sure he didn't want her to finish.

He sat with his back against the wall for what felt like hours. He dozed a few times, but refused to let himself fall asleep again. After some time, he finally felt the others stirring outside his tent. He waited for just a few minutes before emerging. Everybody had woken up, and the sun was a good distance above the horizon. Nina was the first to notice him, "Jin, you're finally awake," she said. "Is everything okay?" He looked down. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just had a rough night."

"Oh. Well, eat your breakfast. You'll feel better in time for today's training."

But Jin did not feel better. He felt as though he was in a heavy haze- he won his sparring match against Yu, albeit barely, and had difficulty focusing on his sandbending lesson with Toph. Jin prepared to make a sand wall, and swung his arm with too much energy; a mass of sand shot from the beach and split a large tree in half. Toph noticed this, and asked, "Jin? Are you feeling alright?" Jin nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"You don't look like it. Is there something bothering you?"

"Well, I had some nightmares last night and they kept me from going to sleep."

"What were they about?" Jin hesitated; he didn't exactly want his friends knowing his worst enemy had been groping him in his dreams, and much less that he enjoyed it, even if only a little. So he replied, "Well… I guess it's just from the stress of the invasion. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? The invasion is still weeks away."

"I know. It's probably because all this training we've been doing reminds me of what I have to do. What _we_ have to do."

Jin wasn't sure if what he said was true. It seemed as though his first nightmare had popped up from nowhere, but now that he thought about it, his reasoning seemed to make sense. After all, they were preparing for war, so their training might have shifted his subconscious mind toward the war. And explaining Rei would be easy enough- he and his friends would be fighting, and _she_ would be the last person he wanted to see. He supposed his explanation was the reason after all.

"Well, if you say so." She fell silent for a few moments. "You know, sandbending is just fine, but I really wish we had some metal around."

"Huh? Why?"

"Jin, you're almost done with your earthbending training. I mean, I've taught you everything I know. Well, everything that you can't learn on your own. But there's still one thing I haven't been able to teach you. It's a special technique, but it was such a well-guarded secret, only members of the Bei Fong family still know it. …The technique lets a person bend metal."

Jin was silent for several moments. "You… you can teach me to bend metal?"

"I could, if we had any metal. It seems like the only metal around here is in your arm, and I don't think we should mess with it."

"Well, what about the burner for the balloon? That's made of metal."

"I don't know. We might need the balloon again. But now that you mention it…" She walked off, and returned a few minutes later. When she returned, she gave him a medium-sized metal plate, slightly bent on one side. "I managed to strip these off the burner. They'll do for now."

"Toph, how exactly is this supposed to work?" Jin asked, holding up his metal plate to inspect it.

"I'm glad you asked. And it's not that hard to explain. Metal is just earth- earth that has been refined and purified. But the process isn't perfect, and some impurities manage to get through." She tapped her plate. "With the seismic sense, you can find the impurities, and bend them." She then pushed down hard on her plate, making it fold in half. "If you bend the impurities, the metal will follow, and you have metalbending. You get all that?"

"I think so. …Um, what do I do first?"

"Use your seismic sense. Look for impurities in the metal." Jin closed his eyes and focused, trying to feel the impurities in the plate. He tapped his fist against the plate like Toph; maybe the vibrations would help him find the impurities. To his frustration, he couldn't find any. "Don't be discouraged. It's harder to find impurities in small objects like this. They're easier to find in big objects." He concentrated harder, tapping against the plate harder. He thought he saw a flash of something in the plate, but couldn't be sure. He rapped his knuckles against the metal one last time, even harder than before.

He saw them all in a flash. The impurities in the metal seemed to shine in the plate like little diamonds. They quickly faded, but their positions remained fixed in Jin's vision. "I can see them," he said out loud. "That's good," she said. "Now try to focus on the impurities." Jin concentrated, trying to move the impurities in the metal. But he couldn't move them. He couldn't even sense them. He knew they were in there- he just saw them, but he just couldn't feel them. He focused as hard as he could, but it seemed as though there wasn't any earth at all. "I don't get it," Jin finally said. "I just saw the impurities, but I can't move them at all. I can't even sense them."

"Well, that's not surprising. It's takes a while before you're able to feel the earth in the metal. But you can see them, which should help you." Toph paused. "Well, you can keep trying with that. I'll try to help you as much as I can, but this is something you'll have to figure out yourself."

Jin tried everything he could think of. With the seismic sense, he could see the impurities, but it seemed nothing he did would coax them to cooperate. Toph reassured him he would get it eventually, but he had his doubts. Several more frustrating hours would pass before the day mercifully came to an end. When night finally fell, Jin crawled into his sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Jin awoke slowly. He didn't have any dreams that night, or if he did he didn't remember. Something struck him as odd, however- he focused on the vibrations in the ground, but the camp was empty. He opened his earth tent and looked for himself, confirming the camp was indeed empty. He climbed out of his tent, confused; if the others went somewhere, they could have at least woken him up and told him. Then he spotted someone standing near the water's edge, some distance away from the camp; somehow, he had overlooked them with the seismic sense. The dark green clothes didn't make it hard to guess who it was. He called out "Toph!" She didn't respond. He left the camp and approached her. When he was closer, he asked, "Toph?" She didn't answer, but looked back at him, as if to acknowledge him. "Where is everyone?" he asked.

"They went into town to buy supplies," she replied. "They'll be back soon."

"So, it's just us?"

"Yeah."

"Well, since we're the only two still here, I guess we should keep going with that metalbending thing you've been teaching me."

"Actually, there's something I wanted to tell you."

"What? Is it something about my training?"

"No, nothing like that. It's more… _personal_." She moved closer to him; he shied away in response. Then she asked, "Jin, do you think of me as a friend?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, have you ever thought that we could be… _more_ than that?" She approached again, and again he shied away.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Let me put it this way- do you like me?"

"I just said that I did."

"No, I mean, do you _like_ me?"

"…I don't follow."

She approached again, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him from retreating. "Jin, what I'm trying to say is… I love you."

Jin suddenly felt his mind go blank. After what felt like an eternity, he asked in a small voice, "…you mean it?"

She smiled reassuringly at him. "Of course." And before he could react, she pressed her lips against his. A little moan escaped Jin's throat and he wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Taking this as some sort of sign, he then felt Toph's tongue prod his lips, as if asking for entry. He happily complied, and felt her tongue slide smoothly across his. He tried it as well, but the motion of his tongue was clumsy and awkward. Jin couldn't help but think, _Wow, Toph's really good at this. I hope I'm doing okay_. He felt Toph's grip tighten, and then he felt Toph lift up her leg and wrap it around his waist. At this, he pulled away.

"Jin? What's wrong?" She asked, releasing him.

"Well, don't you think we're moving kind of fast?"

"I want to get to the good part. I'm sure you'd like that." She moved toward him, but he noticed something he hadn't before, something that made him pull away. There was something wrong with her remaining eye; it wasn't its normal metallic gray color.

Instead, it was a pure, solid black.

"You're not Toph," Jin said, dropping into defensive stance. "Who are you?"

"Clever. What gave me away?" asked Toph in a familiar voice that was most certainly not her own.

"I'd recognize those eyes anywhere."

"Well, since you already know I'm not the real Toph, I suppose I won't need this anymore." She reached up, and tugged on her face. With a sickening, fleshy ripping sound, Toph's face came off like a mask, exposing Rei's underneath. Jin prepared himself for an attack, but suddenly, it felt as if the strength had been sapped from his limbs, and he toppled over helplessly. He struggled, but his body refused to obey. "_What did you do to me?_" he growled.

She bent down over him. "I just slipped you a paralyzing agent during our little kiss. By the way, you're a terrible kisser. No surprise there, I suppose, since I'm superior to you in every possible way. I guess it's just something we'll have to work on together."

"What did you do to my friends?"

"Oh they're long gone. And just so you know, your precious _Toph_ begged for you to come save her before she died. Of course, you never came." Suddenly, she straddled him, creating a very uncomfortable pressure in Jin's hips. "Now if you don't mind, I still want to get to the good part."

* * *

Jin awoke with a start, a cry escaping his throat. He hadn't meant for it to happen, but that dream… why were his dreams like this? Jin wondered if there was something wrong with him. He opened his earth tent and climbed out; to no surprise it was still night. He began to walk toward the ocean when a hand gripped his shoulder. He spun, not knowing what to expect, but relaxed when he saw it was Toph. "Toph?" he asked. "Why are you up so early?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she replied.

"Well, I was going to get some training done."

"Jin, it's the middle of the night."

"I know, but I had another nightmare. And it's not like I'll get any sleep after that." He began to walk away, but Toph put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Jin, you need to sleep. Would you feel better if I let you sleep in my earth tent with me?" Jin was silent for a few moments before replying, "I think so." Toph led Jin back to camp, and into her earth tent. The two laid on the ground, backs toward each other. After a few minutes, Jin's breathing slowed as he entered a deep sleep.

Toph, however, remained awake. When she was sure Jin was asleep, she got up and left her earth tent. She approached the tent next to her own and said, "Nina, wake up. I need to talk to you." After a moment, Nina's head poked out of the tent, and she asked, "Toph, can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No. Get up and help me wake up the others. We have a problem."

* * *

"Jin. Jin, wake up." Jin awoke with a start. "Jin, it's okay. It's me, Toph." Jin blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, but the blurry shape in his vision was indeed Toph. "Toph?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"The others and I need to talk to you about something. Come on." Toph pulled Jin to his feet, and out of the tent; outside, the others were gathered around the campfire, but their attention immediately snapped to him when he emerged. He asked, "What's this about?"

"The others and I have been talking, and we think we should do something about these nightmares you've been having."

"Really? Come on, Toph. I told you, I'll be fine. It's just stress from the invasion. It'll go away eventually."

"Jin, Toph is right," Kohta said. "From what she has told us, these nightmares have been interfering with your training. We need to do something now, before they can get any worse."

Jin relented. "Okay. What did you have in mind?"

This time, Yu answered. "Well, we think that if we get rid of your stress the nightmares will go away. So we'll all try different things and see if they work."

"But what about my training?"

"No training today," Toph replied. "And no training until you're feeling better."

* * *

"How exactly is this supposed to help me?" Jin asked. He sat, crossed-legged, next to Yu. Yu opened his eyes and replied, "Meditation helps clear your thoughts. If you have a clear head, you can assess this situation better, and you can figure out how to tackle these problems by yourself."

"Okay, but I was kind of hoping you could, I don't know, help me more directly."

"How?"

"I don't know. But, I'll try this." Jin closed his eyes and concentrated on clearing his head; his exhaustion made this a difficult feat. Finally, he was able to force the thoughts from his head. After he accomplished this, he vaguely wondered what he should do next. As he wondered, his mind inadvertently began drifting toward his second nightmare. Why in the world would he have come up with something like that? If it had been Toph or even Nina it would have been understandable, but… Rei? At that moment, he could feel a phantom of Rei's tongue as it slid across his. Jin shuddered at the thought.

Yu noticed his shudder and asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Um, I don't thing meditating is really my thing."

* * *

"I haven't done this in a while, so I'm sorry if I make a few mistakes." Jin sat on the ground, his back towards Nina. He asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"

"Well, in your body there are certain points where chi flows. If you press on them, they do different things, like cause pain or keep someone from bending, but some can relieve stress. Hold on, I'm trying to remember where they are." She fell silent for a few minutes, and Jin could feel her fingers tracing light paths over his back. Her hand stopped on a small area of his back just under his left shoulder blade. "Okay, I think there's one here." She pressed down, but stopped when Jin let out a small yelp of pain. "Oops, that's not it. I know there's one here somewhere. Now where- oh, I remember now." Her hand glided up to the base of his neck, and she pressed down.

Jin's muscles tightened. But the sensation wasn't painful. It actually felt… _good_. She asked him, "How does that feel?"

"…It feels good." Nina's other hand slid up and pressed against the other side of his neck. His muscles tightened again, but only for a moment. He shuddered- he never thought _anything_ could feel like this. "So, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Well, I –ah!- I think I'm –oh…- starting to feel better."

"That's good. So, why don't you tell me about these nightmares you've been having." Jin's thoughts returned to his nightmares for an instant, flooding his body with a profound sense of vulnerability, and he quickly brushed Nina's hands away. She asked, "Jin, are you feeling okay?"

He hesitated. "Yeah… it's just…"

After several moments, Nina said to him, "Maybe your stress is the kind you need to talk out."

* * *

"So, how is this supposed to work exactly?" Jin asked. Kohta, who sat across from him, replied "You can begin by telling me what your nightmares were about. Dreams, and especially nightmares, can express subconscious fears or doubts in a person. I am not an expert, but I can try to interpret your dreams, and determine what your subconscious is trying to tell you." He took a breath and said, "So, if you would…"

"Okay. Well, the first nightmare was about the time I… the time I lost my arm."

"That is understandable. It was a traumatic event for you. Have you had this nightmare before?"

"Yeah, but usually things go the way they did. But that time, I was all alone, and then…" Jin could feel the phantom pain in his chest again.

"This is simple enough to explain: since the invasion is only a few weeks away, and you will have to face Rei then, my guess is that you are afraid you will fail."

"Of course I'm afraid. And like I said, I've had that nightmare before. But the other two…"

"Tell me about them."

"Well, I would… but… they're…"

"What is it?"

"Well, they're… _those_ kinds of dreams."

"What do you mean by-" Kohta's eyes widened slightly with a sudden realization. "I see. But please, proceed."

Jin described his second nightmare. Kohta's remained flat and unreadable until he finished. After a few moments, Kohta said, "Now, dreams involving… relations with an enemy are not unheard of."

"So, what does it mean?"

"Hmm. I would like to tell you that all of your dreams have meaning, but this one probably doesn't. The mind is an unusual thing- sometimes, it takes in certain information, and puts it together oddly. No one knows exactly how it does things like that, or why."

"Oh. I guess that just leaves the last dream, then." Jin described his third dream to Kohta. As before, his expression remained flat until he finished. He was silent for several moments before saying. "You are afraid that we will betray you, or that Rei will somehow turn us against each other. At least, I think that is what your dream means."

"Okay, I told you about my dreams. Is there anything I can do to keep the nightmares from coming back?"

"There is no surefire way to ward off nightmares, unfortunately. Nightmares are most often caused by stress; with any luck, the stress-relieving methods that that we've been trying will help."

"You think so?"

"They _should_ help, anyway."

"Hey, if you don't mind, what's Toph been doing?"

"She has been working on her own stress reliever all day. She wants it to be a surprise."

* * *

It was some time before sunset, and Jin sat in front of the campfire. The others had been helping him, and in all honesty, he did feel better- not a lot better, but the good feelings had to count for something, right? At that moment, someone reached from behind him and put their hands over Jin's eyes. "Guess who," they said.

"I hate guessing games, _Nina_," Jin replied.

"Oh, don't be like that. I was just having fun."

"What do you want?"

"Toph's all finished with your surprise now. She told me to come get you." She pulled Jin to his feet. "Come on. I'll take you there." She began leading Jin somewhere; from what he could gather with his seismic sense, she was taking him into the woods. He could feel something up ahead- it felt like a large bowl made of earth, but he couldn't figure out what it was. After a few moments, when the bowl was only a few feet away, Nina said, "Okay, we're here. You can look now." She uncovered his eyes.

As he expected, there was a large bowl made of earth. But he saw that the inside was filled with water, and that underneath the bowl was a small fire. Jin approached and peered inside; on the inside edge of the bowl was a small outcropping of rock. Curious, he dipped his left hand in; the water was very warm. "What is this thing?" he asked.

"Well what does it look like?" Nina replied, answering Jin's question with another question.

"I don't know, a giant pot of soup?" At this, Toph's voice called out, "Hey! We've been working on that hot spring all day!" He looked back and asked, "Hot spring?"

"Yeah. I think it would help all of us unwind." She walked toward the edge of the spring and stripped down to her underwear before climbing in. She sank into the water, mumbling, "Oh yes… this is what I've been missing." A few moments later, Nina had joined her. "Come on, Jin, we all worked on this thing for you. The least you could do is enjoy it with us." At that moment, a blur dropped into the spring, and a few moments later, Yu floated to the surface in a pair of brown briefs. "Oh man," he said. "This was a great idea! Why didn't we think of this before?" Kohta, in contrast, climbed in calmly and said, "I have to admit, this is something I could grow to enjoy." Toph then said to Jin, "Well? We're all waiting." Jin stripped down to his shorts, unplugged his prosthetic arm, and joined the others in the hot spring.

Jin and his friends soaked in the hot spring for some time. Jin had to admit, the hot spring certainly helped him feel better. When he and the others returned to the camp, rather than returning to his earth tent, he simply curled up on the ground to sleep. As he drifted off, he heard Yu ask, "Is he okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Toph replied. "Maybe we should sleep out here with him…"

* * *

There was a crash of lightning. It turned the sky a brilliant white before fading to a dull, bloody red. The city glowed with the flames that consumed it. Jin felt himself wandering through the streets. Just then, a woman ran out from one of the buildings lining the streets. He felt his arm raise up, feeling a thought dawning, and tried desperately to stop himself. To no avail- a plume of fire shot from his outstretched arm and consumed the woman. The plume continued on, incinerating everything in its path. Jin continued on, the flames in the road literally bending around him to allow him passage.

Jin's mind raced. Where was he? Where were his friends? Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he stop himself? He then thought, _I must be dreaming from Rei's point of view_. The thought provided him some comfort, but not enough in the face of the atrocities Rei committed. She burned through buildings and people alike with no remorse. Finally, Rei stopped in front of a store display and looked at it. Jin tried, and failed to scream. He wasn't looking at Rei's reflection in the glass.

He was looking at his own.

Blood was splattered all over his coat, his face. His eyes burned with hatred. But worst of all, a manic smile had cracked across his face. He turned from his reflection and continued. Jin tried desperately to stop himself, but he felt as if he had been locked away inside his own head, helplessly watching the events outside unfolding.

Finally, he reached what appeared to be a town square. There were numerous people here, benders and non-benders alike, fighting unseen foes. Jin felt an alien flare of hate when he spotted someone- a young woman, about his age, with black hair and dark green clothes.

Toph.

She saw him, and without any hesitation, threw a massive rock at him. Jin stood rooted and the rock made contact, but rather than knocking him off his feet, the rock simply exploded around Jin. Then, he took a step closer. She thrust out her arm, and a rock spire shot out at him, but Jin swung his arm and literally batted it away. Then, he took another step closer.

This continued for some time. Toph would throw an attack, and Jin would deflect it, taking another step closer. Finally, he was mere feet from Toph, and she raised a massive pillar of earth from the ground, before turning it back toward him. At that moment, he rushed toward Toph. The pillar hurtled at him, but he ducked, missing it by mere inches. His leg swept out and knocked Toph's from under her, throwing her onto her back. Before she could rise again, he clenched his fist, closing mounds of earth over her hands and feet. Toph thrashed against them, but the earthbender was unable to break free of her own element.

Jin stood before her. Then, he slowly raised his arm, his index and middle fingers extended. A small spark of electricity burst from his fingertips, and traveled down his arm. He slowly pointed it toward Toph, the electricity growing in intensity. She thrashed harder and harder as he slowly pointed at her. Finally, when he was fully pointing at Toph, he regarded her for a moment- she was trembling, tears leaking freely from her remaining eye.

Jin knew what was going to happen.

Jin wished he could close his eyes, to turn away, to simply not see what was about to happen. His body refused to obey.

Jin's body tensed.

Toph screamed.

There was a crash of lightning.

* * *

Jin screamed. He screamed and screamed and screamed. Before he knew it, there was someone at his side, saying something to him. Finally the screams stopped, but only because Jin had forced all the air out of his lungs with them. He took a breath to scream again, but someone clapped their hand over his mouth. "Jin, it's okay," he heard Toph's voice tell him. "It's okay. We're here." She took her hand off his mouth. "What happened?"

"It's the nightmares. They're just getting worse."

"You mean… everything we did… it didn't work?"

He shook his head. "I guess not."

Yu approached. "Should we try something else?"

Jin shook his head. "No. It won't help. There's only one thing I can do. I have to stay awake straight through to the invasion."


	28. Chapter XXVIII: Pain

Chapter XXVIII: Pain

Several hours passed. With everything that happened, nobody had gone back to sleep. Jin sat on the beach fifteen feet or so away from the camp, staring out over the ocean. The others were busy doing other things, but had agreed one of them would watch Jin. The person who chose to do this first had been Toph. As Toph watched him stare motionlessly over the ocean, she shook her head- Jin often had high, sometimes downright unrealistic expectations of himself, but this was ridiculous. The rendezvous alone was still two weeks away, with the invasion another two weeks after that. He would never make it that long- he would either fall asleep or fall over dead from exhaustion before then.

Finally, she stood up and walked over to him. When she was a few feet away, she told him, "You know, you need to get some rest. This isn't healthy." Jin twitched slightly from in surprise, but calmed quickly and replied, "I can't. Not as long as I keep having these nightmares."

"Jin, please, be reasonable. They're just nightmares- they can't hurt you."

"You don't know that!" He stood up. "You don't know what I saw!"

"Well, what did you see?"

Jin began pacing back and forth, struggling to put what he saw into words. "I had a dream. I… I dreamed… I dreamed that I was just like _her_."

"Jin, you're not like her."

"You don't know that, Toph. How can you? How can _I_ know? She… I… erg…" He held up his prosthetic, at a complete loss for words. Then he turned away. "I need to start training again. I have to be ready for her." He stalked off.

Toph and the others watched Jin train. He tried to act like nothing was wrong, but the numerous mistakes betrayed just how tired he really was. They had all tried to talk sense into him, but he insisted he would be fine. The four sat around the campfire, trying to figure out what to do next, when a massive wave of water crashed over the four of them. Almost immediately, Yu clapped his hands together, sending out a sphere of wind that instantly dried off everyone. Then, Nina thrust out her arm, launching a jet of flame that reignited the campfire. When she finished, she looked over her shoulder and said, "We have to do something." Nearby, Jin was trying to bend a very large stream of water, but every few seconds, he lost control over it and had to draw it out of the ground.

"Well, what can we do?" Yu said, leaning back. "He won't listen to any of us."

"We should keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't hurt himself," Toph said.

Night fell. The others kept their eye on Jin, but maintained a respectful distance. After the others returned to their tents for the night, Jin sat outside, staring into the campfire. He could feel himself dozing, but every time, he snapped awake again. He shook his head hard. He wouldn't let himself fall asleep- the nightmares were bad enough, but he was willing to bet they would only get worse.

"Man, you are really going overboard with this," he heard someone say. Jin tensed and looked around; in the light of the moon, however, he saw the beach was completely deserted. The only other living thing was Tian, sitting a short distance away from him. "Hey Tian," Jin said. "You didn't hear anything just now, did you?" Of course, there was no response. Jin looked back at the fire when the voice said "No. But I said something." Jin looked back at the messenger hawk in shock. "You know, you wouldn't be having this problem if you let your friends help you." Jin rubbed his eyes and looked again; Tian simply clicked at him a few times. Jin sighed. "That's more like it. For a minute there I thought you were talking to me." Tian chirped at him. "Why don't you go find some food? You don't have to worry about me." Tian chirped again and flew into the woods. Without getting up, Jin bent some water from the ocean, and hardened it into a mirror. Even he had to admit that he looked awful; in the light from the fire, he could see that his eyes were bloodshot, and just looking at them made them ache.

But he couldn't fall asleep. He wouldn't. The nightmares, they would just- wait, what was that? There was something moving in the trees at the edge of the beach. It wasn't Tian or another animal; the underbrush rustled too much. The odd, irregular movements could only mean one thing; through the ground, Jin confirmed whatever was out there was a person.

And they were moving this way.

Jin moved to a crouch, making as little noise as possible. The person was still approaching. If they were coming alone, it could only be one person. But Jin would be ready. He waited until she was on the beach, then twisted his foot. At once, the ground softened and she sank up to her neck. He twisted his ankle again, hardening the ground, and stood up, fingers outstretched in preparation for a firebending move. He extended his arm, igniting a flame at his fingertips. "Thought you could sneak up on us? That's not like you. But I won't let you beat me again. Game over, _Rei_." But he stopped when he got a good look at the person in the ground. It was a she, but it was most definitely not Rei. It was Toph. Jin dropped his arm immediately and stomped his foot, driving Toph up out of the ground. He covered his face with his hands and began walking away, mumbling over and over again, "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…"

Dawn came. Jin was sitting by the beach, staring out over the water. He had plenty of time to think things over. He shook his head; how could he have done that? He attacked Toph. How in the world could he have mistaken her for Rei? But what horrified him most was that he would have done it. If he hadn't gotten a good look, he wouldn't have realized he fried Toph until it was too late. He had to do something. He stood up, with a plan forming. When he next saw Toph, first he would apologize… then he would tell her everything else. He stood up and looked back just in time to see someone stealing off into the woods. As quietly as he could, he began to follow them.

It took a few minutes before Jin caught up with the person. He only got a glimpse, but had a fairly good idea of who it was. When he finally caught up, Jin tapped her shoulder and said, "Hey Toph," She jumped slightly, but turned around and replied, "Jin? I'm not--"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um… sure, I guess."

"First off, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"…For what?"

"You don't remember? This morning, I thought you were Rei. I almost hurt you."

Toph didn't respond, but gave Jin a confused look. Jin continued. "But there's something else I have to tell you. Something I've been trying to tell you for a really long time. I like you, but more than just as a friend."

"Jin, I think you--"

"Toph, please, I had to work up a lot of courage to say all of this. And if you stop me now, I'll never get through it." There was no reply. This was it- the moment of truth. Jin forced down the lump in his throat and said, "Toph, I… I just wanted to say… _I love you_." Before he could help himself, Jin leaned in and kissed Toph, not entirely aware he had to get up on the tips of his toes to do it. He pulled away, not sure what to expect. Toph stared at him for a few moments before finally saying, "You know, it's fine if you wanted to practice what you were going to say to Toph, but next time, you should ask first."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I know you were getting ready for this for a long time, but… I'm not Toph."

"What? Of course you're Toph."

"Jin, I think you might be a little confused," Jin, surprised at himself, rubbed his eyes. When the blurriness in his vision cleared, he saw that the person standing in front of him was most definitely not Toph.

It was Nina.

At this, Jin tried to apologize, stumbling over his words in the process. "Nina? I… I thought… you… I… eh…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Of course not. So, you're really going to tell her today? Well I think that's really sweet. But if I were you, I wouldn't go for the kiss."

A few hours passed. Jin waited, not for the right moment, but until his stomach would stop twisting itself in knots every time he looked at Toph. Finally, as the sun began to sink behind the trees behind the beach, he approached Toph and asked, "Toph, can I tell you something?" She let the sand she had been controlling fall to the ground, and replied, "Sure." Jin walked a good distance adown the beach, away from the camp. When he felt they were a good distance away, he stopped; behind him, Toph asked, "Okay, what did you want to tell me?" Jin turned to her, his stomach knotting painfully. "Um… first off, I just want to say that I'm sorry about what happened this morning."

"Well, okay. But if that's all you wanted to say, why did you bring me all the way out here?"

"I have something else I wanted to tell you." He took a deep breath; this would be the hard part. He remembered Nina's words: _Just go up to Toph and say whatever comes to your mind_. "Toph," he said, "you've been traveling around with me for a really long time. Well, it probably isn't really that long, but it sure feels like it. But you were the first teacher that I met, and without you, I don't think I would be as good as an earthbender as I am now. But that's not all I wanted to say. Ever since I met you, I felt… I don't know, _something_ whenever we were together." He paused. "It's funny. I spent months figuring out how I was going to say this to you. Now here I am and I still don't know how to say this." This was it; there was no way around this. Toph, I… I love you."

A strange feeling flooded Jin's chest. It wasn't painful, but he had difficulty identifying it. It felt familiar somehow, though he couldn't quite place it. He remembered feeling something similar when he'd learned earthbending and the other elements. Of course, now he understood this feeling. _Pride_. He could feel it swell inside of him, marveling how so much pride could have come from saying three little words. He continued. "Toph, do you remember when we first met in Bei Fong? When I was worried that I wasn't the Avatar, and you told me I shouldn't worry because I didn't think I was handsome enough? I think… _that_ was the exact moment I fell in love with you." Feeling a bit bold, he put a hand on this shoulder. "I made a promise to myself that I would tell you all of this before the invasion. And, well, I don't know what you think of me, but I… kind of hoped you would feel the same way, too."

Toph brushed his hand away. "Jin, listen… I know this must have been hard for you, and I do like you, but… don't you think this could've waited?"

The pride began rapidly draining away from Jin. "What… what do you mean by that?"

"Jin, I don't know how long you wanted to tell me that, and I really think it was… nice. But we have a job to do; the invasion's only for weeks away now, and we need to spend that time getting ready. Now, I'm not saying that I don't feel anything, but things are… _confusing_ right now." Jin's mind was reeling; there had to be something he could do, something that could salvage this situation. Almost without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed Toph; almost instantly, she pulled away, and slapped them across the face. He looked at her and brought his hand up to his face, too stunned to speak. "I just said I was confused!" She said harshly, almost shouting at him. Jin reached toward her and grabbed her shoulder, saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No! Stay away! Don't touch me!" She shoved him back and thrust out her arms; a rock spire shot from the ground and hit Jin in the chest, knocking him away. When the pain subsided enough for him to be able to look up, he saw Toph running back toward the camp. All he could do was push himself up onto his knees and watch her. Jin stayed in that position until night fell, and the campfire finally whiffed out. Then, a realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

Toph didn't love him. Toph didn't want him.

She might have said that she had felt something, but her actions proved otherwise. Jin could feel a pain in his chest, not the pain from the rock spire, but simply a pain- an icy cold pain that seemed to suffocate him. He stood up slowly and made his way to the camp. He searched around, and eventually found his glider. He snapped his wrist, and the delicate wings of his glider sprung out of the staff. He grabbed the handles, and began running toward the beach, creating a small circling pocket of air beneath him to keep the glider aloft; before he reached the water, he jumped, looping his feet around the smaller pair of handles near the bottom of the staff. He wobbled slightly, but steadied as he rose higher and higher in the air. He looked around for somewhere to go. Though the moon was waning, there was still enough light for him to see an island across the water.

A few minutes passed as he glided to it. Finally, he landed with a soft thump. He dropped his glider and began walking toward the heart of the island. As he walked, each step became more and more unbearable, as that horrible coldness wrapped around his heart. Finally, he could go no farther. He fell to his knees and wept bitterly, unaware of the dark clouds that rapidly gathered overhead, unaware of the rain that began to fall from the sky.

* * *

Toph woke up, her mind reeling from the events of the day before. She opened her earth tent and began to step outside, when she immediately withdrew her foot. She looked down and saw the ground was covered with something white. She bent down to touch it, and withdrew her hand immediately; whatever this was, it was incredibly cold. She then noticed that small white dots were floating down from the sky. Suddenly, she heard Yu shout "All right! It's snowing!" Toph pondered this "snow" for a few moments before she heard Nina say, "What? That's impossible. We're not far enough north." Toph made a small platform of earth above the snow to stand on, and stepped out of the tent; outside, she saw Yu and Nina standing around Kohta, who was bent over the snow. "Nina is right," he said. "We would need to be farther north for it to snow."

"Well, there's snow here, isn't there?" Yu asked.

"Indeed. But there is something… _unnatural_ about this snow." At that moment, the ground shook violently, throwing everyone off balance. Yu looked out to the ocean, pointed, and said, "Look." They looked. Over the water, a massive cloud of dust rose over a small island some distance away. Suddenly, something ripped across the island, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and causing the ground to rumble again. Then, a massive plume of flame shot straight into the sky over the island; it was soon followed by a massive bolt of lightning that darkened the sun for a moment. "Wow," Nina said. "That's some powerful bending." Toph was silent for several moments before mumbling to herself, "Oh no." Yu looked over. "What's wrong?"

"Jin's… well, yesterday he told me something, and I… he didn't like my answer." The other three stared at her, confused. So Toph explained everything that had happened, repeated everything that she had said, and sudden realizations dawned on each of them. "This is not good," Kohta said. "His emotional stress must have triggered the Avatar State."

"What should we do?" Yu asked, over another crash of lightning.

"We need to try to calm him down, to talk him out of the Avatar State."

"I'll do it." Yu pulled his glider from his back and snapped his wrist, extending the wings.

"Are you sure?" Nina asked.

"I'm sure. I can get there the fastest. And the sooner we get Jin out of the Avatar State, the better." And with that, he took off, flying towards the island. As Yu drew closer to the island, more began to happen: plumes of fire would burst in all directions, massive spouts of water would rise and crash into the ocean, the earth would split violently, kicking up sprays of ocean water and clouds of dust, and every once in a while, a bolt of lightning would shoot out from the island with a resonating boom. All the while, Yu was buffeted by strong torrents of wind that threatened to plunge him and his glider into the ocean. But in spite of the danger, Yu could only watch in rapt fascination. He had only heard rumors of the Avatar's power, but now, seeing it firsthand, it was easy to forget that such raw power was coming from a twelve year old boy.

Yu landed on the island's beach lightly, with all the grace that being an airbender provided. He noticed an object lying in the sand nearby, and quickly identified it as Jin's glider. Leaving his own glider with Jin's, Yu climbed up the beach to begin his search. It didn't take long; in the first few moments searching the small forest covering the island, Yu found Jin's coat, haphazardly tossed over the branches of a short tree. A minute or so later, he found Jin himself.

Jin stood with his back toward Yu, facing a tree. He casually swung his arm; at once, the ground trembled violently, and a massive column of earth shot from the ground, knocking the tree out of Jin's path. Jin began to walk forward, Yu following as silently as he could. Jin stopped in front of another tree and thrust out his arm; the massive gust of air he created blew away the tree, as well as a large section of forest behind it. It was at this point that Yu made his presence known. He took a step forward and said, "Jin."

Jin slowly turned to face Yu. As his front came into view, Yu saw that his eyes seemed to flicker, the pure white glow of the Avatar State brightening or dimming seemingly at random. The glow even seemed to stretch to his prosthetic, and shone through the small gaps in the metal. In-between the flickers, Yu could see Jin's eyes were a deep, bloody red. He regarded Yu for a few moments before turning back to what he had been doing. "Jin, we need to talk." Jin made no indication that he had heard anything. "Jin, please. It's about what happened yesterday." At this, Jin stopped and looked over his shoulder at Yu.

"I know that I _don't_ know how you're feeling right now," Yu said. "I can't imagine the pain and the hurt you felt when Toph told you what she did yesterday. But she's right, Jin. The invasion's only a few weeks away now, and we have to be preparing for it. You need to have your head straight if we're going to beat the Order." Jin stared back silently. "Jin, I know this sounds cold, but the Order is the most important priority right now. Toph can wait. She's strong; and she'll be waiting for you when this is all over." The glow slowly faded. When it was gone, Jin fell to his hands and knees. Yu rushed over to his side and asked, "Are you alright?" trying to help him to his feet, but Jin simply waved him away. Yu pulled away and asked again, "Are you alright?" Jin said nothing, but nodded in reply. As Jin got to his feet, Yu asked, "Will you be okay to fly?" Jin again said nothing, but nodded again in reply.

A day passed since Yu returned from the island with Jin. Nina noticed a change in him almost the moment he returned, and was sure the others could see it too. When he returned, he simply sat down on the beach, legs pulled up to his chest, and stared out over the ocean; he hadn't moved from that spot since. Finally, Nina got sick of seeing him that way and walked over to him. "Jin," she said. He didn't respond. "Jin, come on. We need to talk." He tensed slightly, and stood up listlessly. She walked towards the woods, Jin shuffling behind her. He looked back over her shoulder at him; he swayed slightly as he walked, shoulders drooping, head down, his eyes focused somewhere between her and his feet. They entered the woods, and after a few minutes of walking, came across a fallen tree.

She was the first to sit down on it. She patted the spot next to her, indicating for him to sit next to her. He walked over and sat on the tree with a thump. The two sat in silence for some time, both waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Nina spoke. She said, "I know things didn't go the way you wanted them to." Jin said nothing, but shuddered visibly. "Toph told us what happened. What she said, what you said, what both of you did, everything." Jin's breathing became ragged. "I'm… I'm sorry, Jin."

He sniffed. "…It hurts."

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "I know it hurts, Jin." She could feel tears dropping onto her arm.

"I told her… I told her and she… she doesn't love me. She didn't say it, but… but she acted like it."

"Jin, I'm sure that isn't true." Nina was silent for a few moments. "I proud of you though, Jin."

He looked up. "…Proud? How can you be proud of me? I failed."

"You kept your promise to me. You told Toph how you felt before the invasion."

"But… she doesn't…" He let out a shuddering sigh. "I wish I hadn't told her."

"Don't say that! I know things didn't turn out the way you thought they would. And I know it hurts now, but how do you think it would feel if you hadn't told her, and something happened? Then you'd never have another chance. It hurts. I know it hurts, but you'll feel better. I promise."

The two fell silent for some time. Then Jin asked, "Nina?"

"Yeah?"

"…Is it okay if I cry?"

"It's okay, Jin." So Jin nestled his head into Nina's shoulder, and cried.


	29. Chapter XXIX: Arrival

Chapter XXIX: Arrival

Two days passed. Jin was no longer plagued by nightmares, but that was because something else was on his mind. Toph now barely spoke to him; it felt that the only times they did speak was when she gave him instructions during training. Now that his nightmares had subsided, the others agreed to resume Jin's training. Jin was thankful, as it distracted him, if only briefly, from the incident. But as time passed, Jin began to realize something- in spite of the knowledge his friends passed onto him, he knew he would need more help. He knew he would need the knowledge of his predecessors.

So on that morning, two days after the incident, he approached the others and said, "Guys, there's something I need to tell you." The others all looked at him, with the exception of Toph, listening. "I know you guys have all been training with me, helping me master the four elements, but I don't think it's enough to beat the Order. I need to learn more about the Avatar's powers."

"So what are you going to do?" Kohta asked.

"I need to go to the Spirit World and talk to Avatar Aang. I'm sure he can help me." He sat down in front of the campfire, his legs crossed. "I'll be back in a few, um…" When would he back? In a few minutes? Hours? Days? The last time he had been to the Spirit World, what had felt like only an hour had turned out to be almost two weeks. Finally, he said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

He began concentrating, trying to figure out how to get to the Spirit World. Last time, the other Avatars had brought his spirit there while he was unconscious. This time, however, he would have to get there on his own. He looked down at the fire, watching the flames dance as they consumed the leaves and branches within. It was mesmerizing, intoxicating even, to watch as those flames blackened the wood until there was nothing left.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Jin sat with his eyes and arm glowing a pure white. The others looked on, stunned. "What happened to him?" Yu asked.

"He must have crossed over to the Spirit World," Kohta replied. "He should be fine as we do not move his body."

* * *

Suddenly, Jin found himself sitting in front of a large open gate. He stood up and looked around; thick, oddly shaped trees surrounded his sides and back, while the front opened into a large, flat plain. Everything was surrounded by a yellowish haze- this, along with the trees, confirmed without a doubt that he was in the Spirit World. He stood up and passed through the gate, having nowhere else to go. The plain before him was devoid of any plants, and made of some sort of rock. He called out, "Aang!" His voice echoed across the plain, stirring up some sort of animal hidden by the haze. "Aang, I need to talk to you!" At that moment, a powerful gust of wind blew across the plain, kicking up a large cloud of dust. The dust blew away almost as soon as it had appeared, revealing Aang, and he said, "It's so good to see you again, Jin."

* * *

The other four looked on for a few moments before Kohta said, "Jin has the right idea. We need to start making our own preparations for the invasion."

Yu leaned back and asked, "Isn't that what we've been doing for the last three weeks?"

"Yes, but that is not what I meant. We need to begin planning for the invasion."

"Well, shouldn't we wait until Jin comes back? I'm sure he'd want to know about this." Nina said.

"We do not have enough information about the Order's plan to form a complete one of our own- that will have to wait until the other members of the White Louts arrive. This is only a rough outline of our primary targets during the invasion." Nina did not voice any complaints (and neither did the others), so Kohta continued. "From the information the Grand Masters have sent me, we have three primary targets." Kohta picked up a stick from the ground and drew three large boxes in a line. In the first box, he drew a rough sketch of an airship. "Our first and highest priority target is the Order's Mobile Fortress. From what our moles have told us, the Mobile Fortress is the Order's primary method for mobilizing large numbers of troops, and they will be using it during the invasion."

"Okay," Yu said, "but why is taking out some airship more important than Rei?"

"I was just getting to that. Neutralizing the Mobile Fortress is most important because, if it able to escape, it will return to the Order's headquarters and either allow the remainder of their forces to escape, or bring additional forces to the battlefield."

"Wait, so the Order isn't bringing all their forces with them?" Toph asked. "I thought the Order would be going all out to capture Ba Sing Se."

"No. The Order is relying mainly on the element of surprise to capture Ba Sing Se, so they are only using a small force to invade the city. The risk is high for them, but if they succeed, they will have an impenetrable fortress from which they can launch their invasion. But, by destroying the Mobile Fortress, it will prevent the Order from supplying reinforcements, and prevent their surviving troops from retreating."

He wrote a name in the second box. "Our next target, after neutralizing the Mobile Fortress, is Rei. She is the most powerful and most dangerous tool at the Order's disposal. There is only one person on our side who could possibly stand a chance against her, and I imagine he will want to face her alone. I cannot be entirely sure, but if Jin manages to defeat Rei, it may cause a panic in the Order's forces, if they do not outright surrender." He wrote another name in the last box. "Our third and final target is Commander Rao. He will be leading the Order's forces on the day of the invasion, but neutralizing the Mobile Fortress and Rei comes first. However, if we are able to capture or otherwise neutralize Rao, then the Order's remaining forces will be thrown into disarray and very likely surrender." Kohta thought for a moment, and then said, "I think that covers everything. Are there any questions?"

There were none.

* * *

"Aang, I need your help. I've been training with the others, but I still don't feel like I'm ready. Is there anything you can teach me? Anything that'll help me in the invasion?"

Aang crossed his arms. "Mastering the elements takes years of practice. And you're right to be worried- no matter how much training you do, three weeks simply isn't enough time for you to do it all. But there is a special technique, a technique that was taught to me by a very powerful being- a lion turtle."

"A lion turtle? So, do I have to find this thing so he can teach me whatever this technique is?"

"No. The last lion turtle died after the war three hundred years ago. But he passed the knowledge of this technique onto me, and now, I shall pass this knowledge on to you." He clasped his hands in front of his chest. "I realize that I might have asked too much of you when I told you that you had to kill Rei. The technique I'm about to teach you can allow you to defeat Rei, without killing her." He closed his eyes, concentrating. "Long ago, before the Avatar, and even before the separation of the four elements, we bent the energy in our own bodies." As Aang spoke, small white tendrils began appearing around him. "This technique can be used to do many different things- to share knowledge or experiences, to give strength or life, to connect with others beyond any physical sensation. And while this technique can be used to give, it can also be used to take as well. With this technique, you can take away a person's bending."

"You can do that?"

"Yes, but it is very dangerous. If you're not strong enough, the other can take away your bending instead." He noted the look of horror that spread across Jin's face. "But as long as you remember what I've taught you, you have nothing to be afraid of." The tendrils that Aang had summoned had grown much larger, and glowed in a brilliant white light. "The energy within your body can be controlled like any other element, but you must draw it out first. Concentrate on drawing the energy out of your body."

Jin nodded, and closed his eyes, focusing on controlling the energy inside him. He could feel it flow as he manipulated it, as he tried to pull it out, until… He opened his eyes again- a small white wisp floated near his side. He held up his arm and flexed his fingers, pulling it towards his hand. When it came close, he noticed it was incredibly warm- not uncomfortably so, but the heat that radiated from the small wisp was more intense than any fire Jin had been able to create. He began to manipulate it further; stretching it, compressing, dividing. It was so strange- it was unlike any of the four elements, and yet it seemed to have traits of all of them.

"Amazing isn't it?" Aang asked. "This kind of bending- energybending- is the only kind that can be used in the Spirit World. And it is also your key to taking away another's bending."

"How?"

"Before you can take away another person's bending, you must first enter their mind. Once there, your spirit and theirs will do battle. If you can force your opponent's soul into submission, then, and only then, can you take away their bending." Aang lowered himself into a fighting stance. "But first, you'll have to get that far."

* * *

Kohta was the first to awaken. He knew he would he would need to revise the plan, but it was the best he could do regarding what little information he had. He emerged from his tent; he saw Jin still sitting in front of the fire pit. Jin had now been sitting motionless in that spot for nearly an entire day. Kohta wondered to himself if this sort of thing was normal for an Avatar. After a few minutes, Yu emerged from his tent. "Hey Kohta," he said. Then he looked over at Jin. "Is he still in the Spirit World?"

"It seems that way."

"Is he doing alright? Shouldn't he have come back by now?"

"He seems to be okay. And I am sure Jin will come back as soon as he can."

There was a short pause before Yu asked, "Kohta, this might seem off topic, but why do you talk like that?"

"Well, my father taught me that one of the most important skills to learn as a leader is communication. So, as the leader of my tribe, I must ensure that everything I say is understood perfectly by anyone who hears me."

"Oh."

Toph's earth tent sank into the ground and she joined the two by the fire pit. "Hey," she said, "Jin's not back." Nina then sat down by the fire pit as well, and asked, "How long is this supposed to take, anyway?"

"Who knows," Yu replied. "I just hope he gets back before the invasion."

Toph felt something through the ground. "Uh, guys? There's something coming this way. A lot of somethings." The four readied themselves. Toph could feel them coming towards their camp. After a few tense minutes, one emerged from the woods. Kohta was the first to react- he pulled a stream of water from the ocean and hurled it at the intruder. Suddenly, a wall of sand shot up fro the ground, blocking the stream of water. Kohta dropped his guard at once. "You're a bender?" he asked the intruder.

The wall of sand collapsed back into the ground. "Yeah," the intruder replied, "and I guess you guys are too." With the sand wall out of the way, the group was now able to get a good look at the intruder- he wore heavy clothes of brown and tan, the sleeves of his shirt and pants wrapped down with bandages. Most peculiarly, he wore a cloth around his head that obscured most of his face, save for a small slit for his eyes. But even then, he wore a strange pair of glasses with small slits instead of lenses.

"Who are you?" Kohta asked.

"I'm Ren," the intruder replied. He then took off his glasses and unwrapped the cloth around his head, revealing brown hair and eyes underneath. "This is where we're supposed to meet, right?" He reached into a pocket in his clothing and pulled out a white lotus tile. Kohta spotted this and asked, "You are with the White Louts, then?"

"Yeah. Does that mean you're with the Avatar?"

"We are." Ren relaxed slightly, then said to someone behind him, "It's all clear." A half dozen other people emerged from the trees, all wearing heavy clothes with wrapped sleeves. The four looked at them for several moments before Nina asked, "Is that all? Shouldn't there be more of you?"

Ren scratched his head. "Well, my father told me to go here with the warriors from our village. He's still back in the Si Wong Desert gathering sandbenders together." Kohta then said, "I see. Well, this is the rendezvous point. Your group is the first to arrive. Just make yourself at home."

Ren turned back to his small group. "San, Ka, help me set up camp. The rest of you, go back and get our stuff." Four of the people complied and returned to the woods; the remaining two stepped forward next to Ren. Kohta watched as the three of them erected buildings from the sand at near-blinding speed, one for each person in their party. When they had finished, Ren approached Kohta and asked, "That's him, isn't it? The Avatar." He pointed to where Jin sat. Kohta nodded. "Wow" Ren said. "I didn't think he'd be so young."

"Do not be fooled. He is very capable."

"I'll take your word for that."

* * *

Jin stood hunched over, trying to catch his breath. After a few moments, he stood upright. Aang stood a short distance away, waiting. When he saw that Jin was ready, he said, "Again." Jin pulled two strands of energy from his body and whipped them out at Aang. Aang easily sidestepped them and whipped out an energy strand of his own. Jin quickly pulled out another strand and stretched it, creating a shield to block the attack; when it made contact, he quickly tried to absorb it into the shield. Aang pulled back, but Jin was able to overpower him, and the tendril of energy disappeared into his shield.

"Good," he heard Aang say. "Absorb your opponent's energy, then use it against them." Jin focused and thrust out his arm, shattering the shield and throwing the thousands of shards directly at Aang. Aang created his own shield in response, but Jin swiped his arms several times, throwing out an arc of energy with each swing. The shards made contact, but failed to break through Aang's shield. Then, the arcs made contact- one, then another… when the third made contact, the shield fragmented and disappeared. Aang dodged the remaining swipes, but failed to notice that Jin had closed the distance between them. When he recovered from his evasion, he found Jin before him, arm outstretched, swathed with energy, pointed directly at his chest.

"Excellent," Aang said. "But keep in mind that you'll be at a disadvantage while inside another person. They can call upon their energies instantly, but it will take several moments for your energy to reach you- that's why it's important for you to learn to control another person's energy. But now, you need to return to your world. Remember what I have taught you." The world slowly faded into darkness, and Jin felt the sensation of falling.

Suddenly, Jin found himself on the beach. He became especially aware of an acute pain in his back, so he stretched, partly relieving the pressure. "Jin," he heard Yu's voice say. "You're back." Jin looked over to see Yu sitting in front of the fire a few feet away. Jin stood up, stretching his legs, and asked, "How long was I gone?"

"Two days."

"Really? I didn't mean to be gone that long."

"Don't worry about it. But you're not gonna believe what happened while you were gone. People showed up! They're gonna help us fight the Order!"

"Really? That's great! Can I meet them?"

"Sure. Come on."


	30. Chapter XXX: The Long March

Chapter XXX: The Long March

Three days passed. In that time, more people came, increasing their force from a handful of individuals to a small army. Earthbenders, airbenders, firebenders, watherbenders… their small encampments sprung up across the beach, soon spreading as far as the eye could see- it staggered the mind, seeing so many benders gathered in one place, knowing that they were alive. But, whenever he wandered through the camps, all voices silenced immediately, and all eyes fell on him, regardless of what their owners had been doing prior. It unnerved him slightly, the attention he received- did Avatars in the past have to deal with this? He considered asking Aang, but decided it was better not to trouble him with such pointless things.

Three days after Jin returned from the Spirit World, Jin sat on the beach, contemplating what to do next. Kohta had been speaking with the other members of the White Lotus, and they had agreed to call a meeting, but it wouldn't be until later that day. Suddenly, he had a thought. He remembered the technique Aang had taught him- energybending, as he'd called it- and became very curious. He stood up, and began focusing- he hadn't tried what he was about to do before, and there was no guarantee it would work, but, he thought to himself, it couldn't help to try.

Jin could feel the energy within shift, traveling down his arm into his hand, but as it emerged, he noted there was something very… different about it. He looked down at his hand- tiny bolts of electricity raced across it, arcing in the gaps between his fingers. He focused harder, and the bolts grew, the air fizzling with their strength. He'd done the exact same thing in the Spirit World with Aang, but this was different- the only thing he could compare it to were the times he had created lightning. The same kind of power was there- Jin stood frozen, feeling as though any movement, any motion at all, would cause the energy to break free and destroy him. Then, Aang's words echoed in his head.

_Remember what I have taught you._

Jin took a deep breath. Holding up his other hand, he guided the electricity, arcing it from his right hand into his left. He was surprised by how easy it was, but then thought to himself, _Well why wouldn't it be easy? It is _my_ energy after all_. He passed the electricity back and forth between his hands a few more times, then, when it was in his right hand, he thrust out his arm, and the electricity lashed out before returning to the palm of his hand. He swung his arm, the lightning forming into a wide arc before returning to his hand again. Jin focused, electricity gathering in his left hand. He swung his left hand, and as before, the energy lashed out in a wide arc.

As he practiced, Jin noted energy he held now wasn't nearly as malleable as it had been in the Spirit World- he could expand it, but only to make wide blasts and not as a shield, and he couldn't fire it in small bursts, but only as bolts of lightning. But he could temporarily coat his body with the electrical energy, and what it lacked in malleability it seemed to make up for in raw power. He extended his fingers and thrust out his arm, firing the energy he accumulated out over the ocean, then dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. Unlike in the Spirit World, energybending in his world seemed to rapidly sap him of his strength- maybe this was why Aang hadn't told him if it was possible in the normal world. He looked up, realizing that a very large group had gathered to watch him. As he rose to his feet, one of them approached- Ren. "Um… Avatar?" he said. "There's been a new arrival, and their leader has asked to see you in person." Ren led Jin through the camp to a small section of woods. A very large contingent of soldiers was waiting there, led by someone very familiar.

"M-Mrs. Bei Fong," Jin said. "I wasn't expecting you to come with your soldiers." She stepped toward him. "It's 'Miss' Bei Fong now. My husband had tolerated the recruiting, but drew the line when I offered to lead our troops here. So, I let our people make the decision. They chose me, and my husband became so furious, he declared he was no longer a part of the Bei Fong family and left the city. So then, I led the troops here."

Jin wasn't sure how to respond to that. After a few moments, he asked, "So, how many troops have you brought with you?"

"Just over a hundred."

"Alright. Well, your timing couldn't have been any more perfect. Tell your troops that they can set up camp with everyone else. As for you, come with me. The rest of the White Lotus members are having a meeting soon." She followed him through the camp, the two completely silent before he finally asked, "You want to see her, don't you?"

"More than anything else."

Jin and Toph's mother reached the heart of the camp- there, along with their original campsite, was a large tent where the meeting was scheduled to take place. Kohta, Yu and Nina were sitting in front of the campfire, near the tent. Kohta noticed them and stood up, saying, "Hello Jin. So another group has arrived?"

Jin nodded. "Kohta, this is Miss Bei Fong, Toph's mother. She brought a group of soldiers from her city, and she's part of the White Lotus. And Miss Bei Fong, these are Kohta, my waterbending teacher and a member of the White Lotus, Yu, my airbending teacher, and Nina, my firebending teacher." The Earth Kingdom noblewoman and the three bending teachers bowed to each other. Then Toph's mother asked, "Is she here?" Then, a voice asked, "…Mom?"

She turned; standing behind her was Toph. "What are you doing here? I thought you stayed home."

"I decided to lead the forces here myself. So I could help you, and the Avatar."

At that moment, as Toph's mother began explaining what had happened, an earthbender soldier approached Kohta and spoke to him in a low voice. Kohta then said to the three, "The meeting is about to begin. You should come inside." Kohta retreated into the tent, and the others moved to follow him. Jin enetered, but stopped when he heard the man say, "This meeting is between the Grand Masters and the Avatar only." Jin looked back and said, "Well what about Kohta?"

"Kohta assisted with planning and information."

"Well, these are my friends, and they need to hear about this too." The man opened his mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately, apparently figuring it was better not to defy a direct request from the Avatar. So, he stepped aside and allowed Jin's friends, and Miss Bei Fong to enter. Surprisingly, there were only a few people in the tent, aside from Kohta, there were five people who nobody could identify sitting at a stone table in the center of the tent. In the center of the table was a large map showing the entirety of the eastern continent. They looked up when they saw Jin and his companions enter. One of them- he appeared to be from the Water Tribes- asked the man, "Who are these people." The man replied, "The Avatar has requested that these people attend the meeting with him, Hao." The man then turned to Jin. "Now, if you and your companions will take your seats, we can begin this meeting." The four took their seats on the side with Kohta, across from the five, Jin sitting between Kohta and Toph's mother.

The soldier who had spoken to Kohta sat at the head of the table, and said, "Okay, now that everyone's here, may this meeting of the Order of the White Lotus come to order. For those of you who don't know, I am Shengxian, a Grand Master of the order. For our first order of business, I'm sure that some of you wish to know the fate of our comrade, Grand Master Tenzin. I regret to inform you all that Grand Master Tenzin was captured by the Order, along with the entire population of the Northern Air Temple. This means that the number of Grand Masters who will be involved in the invasion has been reduced to six." There was murmuring amongst the five, but Yu asked out loud, "Wait, Master Tenzin was part of the White Lotus?"

"I'm sorry, who is this?" Hao asked.

"Hao, show some respect for the Avatar's companions." Shengxian said. "But please, do introduce yourself."

"My name is Yu. I was from the Northern Air Temple and I trained under Master Tenzin."

"I see." Shengxian then said, "Well, our moles have confirmed that Grand Master Tenzin is still alive, but is being held in the Order's main fortress."

Shengxian paused, then said, "Now, we must come to main topic of our meeting. As you know, the Order's invasion is just over two weeks away. I know many of you would have preferred that the White Lotus launch the first strike, but the Order has begun their plan sooner than we anticipated. From what our moles have uncovered, they're planning to use their Mobile Fortress to transport a small force to Ba Sing Se and invade the city."

"Yes, yes, we all know about their plan," one of the Grand Masters said- a young woman who appeared to be a firebender.

"Well Fujian, if you had actually read any of the letters I've sent you, you would know that the Order has formed a new plan. The current leader of the Order, Commander Rao, unveiled this plan to the Avatar himself. Now, Avatar, if you would, enlighten Fujian to the Order's new plan."

Jin was taken aback for a moment, but complied. "Commander Rao told me that the Order is going to wipe out all non-benders, along with any benders that don't side with them."

There was silence for several moments before Shengxian said, "Fujian, I do hope you understand… I hope that _all_ of you understand the implications of this. The Order is planning an extermination of the human race, the likes of which have not been seen since the Bender Revolt three hundred years ago. And, if they take Ba Sing Se, they will have an unassailable fortress from which they can carry out this plan. We need to prevent that from happening."

Shengxian stood, and circled the table until he was on the western side of the map, and pointed to a small symbol- a diamond within a circle- in a patch of ocean southeast of the continent's southern peninsula, and traced a line up toward Ba Sing Se. "The Order's forces will be approaching the city from the southwest, and we predict it will take three days for them to arrive. Our best shot at intercepting them is to reach the city first and wait for them."

"How long would it take for us to reach the city?" Kohta asked.

"Because we have such a large force, we can't be sure exactly when we'll arrive. From the size of our force, my guess is that it will take us a week to reach Ba Sing Se at the very least."

"Well then, I think our next course of action is obvious. We should leave for Ba Sing Se as soon as possible," a man said. Like Shengxian, he appeared to be an earthbender, but was much older than his counterpart.

"There's no need to rush, Qiang. But I agree- we will need to leave soon. We can stay until tomorrow in case any forces arrive at the last minute, but after that we need to go. Once we reach Ba Sing Se, we'll set up camp and make our final preparations for battle. Are there any questions?" There were none. "In that case, meeting adjourned."

* * *

The next day came and went. A few more soldiers came, but it was obvious that all the White Lotus forces who would be in the battle had already arrived. At dusk, announcements were made to the troops that the march to Ba Sing Se would begin the next morning. Jin was flooded by a sense of apprehensiveness as he listened to the announcements- suddenly, the prospect of facing Rei became much more real. The mere thought made his stomach churn uncomfortably. _No_, Jin thought to himself as he lay down to sleep that night. _I'm ready this time. I'm strong enough to fight her._ The churning in his faded, and Jin was able to fall asleep soon afterward.

"Jin… Jin, wake up. We need to go." Jin awoke with Kohta's muffled voice in his ears. He opened his eyes, surrounded by darkness until he sank his earth tent into the ground- the sky above was tinged a slight pink. Around him, he could hear hundreds of others stirring, awakening. He got up and asked, "Are the others already awake?"

"No. I will wake them. In the meantime, you should pack your things. We will be leaving once the sun rises."

An hour passed, and the White Lotus's forces were on their way. Jin and his friends were positioned near the front- the Grand Masters had told them it would be appropriate for the Avatar to be the one to lead. Following them were the Grand Masters themselves, with the bulk of their forces bringing up the rear. They had left the balloon behind; they had no need for it any longer. The Grand Masters had been optimistic when they first set out, Shengxian saying the army would actually arrive a day earlier than predicted. After two days, the date of arrival was pushed back one day, to a full week. Now, four days into their journey, it had been pushed back again, to eight days. Jin imagined that in another two days, it would be pushed back to nine days.

That night, the Grand Masters called another meeting. In the massive tent where they held their first meeting, Shengxian said to the group, "Things aren't going well." He pointed to a section of land south of a lake near Ba Sing Se, some distance away from Chameleon Bay. "Our scouts estimated that we're here. Based on the average distance our army has traveled per day, we predict that we will reach Ba Sing Se in another week."

At this, Jin said, "I don't mean to be critical, but can't our troops move any faster? We need to be in position before New Year's."

"Avatar," Hao said, "moving our forces isn't the same as moving in your small group. Supplies must be carried, soldiers must be fed, and scouts must be sent out to ensure we are traveling along the correct path."

"Master Hao is right," Shengxian said. "In addition, traveling through this terrain has bogged down our forces, but it's necessary to avoid being intercepted by local militias. This is why we're following the river rather than traveling directly north to Ba Sing Se." He then pointed to a small sliver of land dividing two large lakes. "And it's also why we'll need to travel through the Serpent's Pass when we reach it. We have a large number of earthbenders to clear our own paths if necessary, but we suspect it will take an entire day to travel through the pass."

Another two days passed. Much to Jin's surprise, the Grand Masters' prediction remained at a week. The night before, they had reached the start of the Serpent's Pass, prompting the Grand Masters to change the army's configuration- now the force was led by a squad of earthbenders, with everyone else following. They set out at dawn the next day. The terrain of the path was treacherous, and it seemed that every few feet, the group had to stop as the earthbenders formed a new path where an old one had crumbled away. Jin regretted not bringing the balloon- if they had it, he and his friends could have simply flown over the path, and arrived at Ba Sing Se much sooner. Finally, the sun began to set. The scouts predicted that due to the state of the Serpent's Pass, it would take another day to travel through it. So, the force stopped for the night, the fires of their small camps lighting up the path they had traveled before eventually whiffing out.

Jin curled up in his sleeping bag, but sleep would not come to him- there was simply too much on his mind, and not all of it was from the invasion. Finally, as quietly as he could, he climbed out of his sleeping bag, and walked a short distance down the path. He didn't have to go far; about twenty feet away from where they stopped to camp, the path ended with a sheer drop down to the water dozens of feet below. He sat down by the edge, looking out over the water to his right; a half-moon hung above the horizon, reflected in the water of the lake. He guessed that it would be about a week before the moon became full, just in time for the invasion.

He jumped slightly as he heard the sound of someone sitting down next to him. "Relax. It's just me," he heard Toph's voice say. He looked over to see Toph sitting next to him, looking down into the water below. She was sitting a bit close to him- ordinarily he wouldn't have minded, and Toph didn't seem to notice, but considering what had happened between the two of them…

"Toph, can I tell you something?" Jin asked.

"Is this about what happened two weeks ago? Look, Jin, I know I can't change how you feel about--"

"No, it's not about that. Well, it is, but… Toph, I just wanted to say… I'm sorry."

She looked over at him, surprised. "You know, you don't have to apologize. I've already--"

"But I do- it just… it just wouldn't feel right if I don't. Toph, what I did was… it wasn't fair to you. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that. And you were right- I should have waited until all of this was over." He paused for a few moments, before saying, "Maybe… maybe it's better if we just… _hold on_ to what we already have." He looked at her. "Toph, will things ever be the same between us?"

Several moments passed as she sat in silence. Finally, she shook her head and replied, "No, Jin. I don't think things will ever be like they used to." She stood up. "I'm going back to bed. I was hoping I could take a walk, but I guess that's not happening." She motioned to the broken path. "Goodnight Jin." She walked away. Jin continued to sit for several minutes. He'd apologized to Toph, but he wasn't sure if he felt better or if he felt worse than before. Finally, he stood up and headed back to the camp as well.

The army was up early the next morning. Like the day before, progress was slow, but Jin's mind wasn't on the journey. From the moment he woke up that morning, his mind had focused on the conversation he had with Toph the night before. When he had told her his feelings two weeks ago, she had replied she was confused- now, he was the one who was confused. All his thoughts just seemed jumbled together- he didn't know how to make sense of any of them. He wanted so much, but most of all, he wanted Toph to love him- which brought him back to his "confession" from two weeks before. Jin wanted to slap himself. He never should have told her. Sure, she wouldn't have known… but then none of this would have happened to begin with. And they would have been happy, still having that special kind of love that forms between friends. Of course, Jin didn't want just _that_ kind of love, but then, who was he to try to force his own wants on others? He remembered what Toph had said:

_I don't think things will ever be like they used to._

So that was it. It was over. The end. Goodbye. There wouldn't be any love between them, not even _that_ kind. Instead, there would always be a rift between them, one punctuated by nervous glances and long, uncomfortable silences. And this is what he had to look forward to for--

"Jin? Is everything alright?" he heard Kohta ask. Jin shook himself out of his daze and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Is something wrong?"

"You were falling behind the rest of the group."

"I was? Sorry about that. I was thinking about something."

"The invasion?"

"Uh, yeah." Of course, he hadn't given a thought to the invasion. In fact, he had deliberately avoided thinking about the subject. A knot began to form in his stomach. The nightmares might have passed, but all the doubt they had brought with them had not. He'd have to face Rei soon. All of them would have to face the Order. It was a strange feeling, knowing that the fate of an entire world was entirely dependent on whether or not they succeeded or failed in their mission. It was more than a little unsettling. He had been preparing for this since the day Aang first appeared to him, but when they first met, Rei easily defeated him. Since then, he'd built on his skills, becoming stronger… but there was no doubt that she had been doing the same. He felt that when the time finally came for him to face Rei, all he could do was hope that things would turn out in his favor.

Jin's musings continued for the rest of the day until they stopped for the night. The knot that had formed in his stomach refused to untangle itself, and he hardly slept. They set out again early the next morning- as the sun rose, a cheer rose amongst the soldiers. The end of the path was less than a quarter mile away from where Jin and his group had camped for the night. The group was certainly much more enthusiastic than they had over the last few days, and in less than an hour they had left the Serpent's Pass. And there it was; off in the distance, above the horizon, rose the great wall of Ba Sing Se. The soldiers chattered excitedly amongst themselves as they approached, continuing long after they stopped to camp for the night. Based on the scout's reports, the army would reach the wall but sunset the next day.

Ordinarily, Jin would have been excited to hear this news, but this time, he was not. He couldn't have been farther from relieved. The knot in his stomach tightened again, refusing to unclench, and another sleepless night passed. They headed out the next day. At midday, the army finally reached the wall. The rest of the day was spent traveling alongside the wall, so that the army could be in the best position to intercept the Order's forces.

The White Lotus had arrived. All they could do now was wait.


	31. Chapter XXXI Thoughts

Chapter XXXI: Thoughts

She'd done it.

It had taken her months, but she had finally found it. The thing she had been looking for had been written on a few sheets of paper, wedged between the pages of a large book. There had only been a few pages, but the information written there had been enough. As she sat in the sanctum of her fortress, her heart fluttered in her chest.

_Yes_. With this, she would be able to level the playing field against _him_.

She stood at the end of the dock, the one place where she could practice her newfound skill safely. She took a deep breath, feeling as the energy within her began to divide in two. She began to trace a half circle in the air in front of her, a trail of electricity following her movement. It seemed to hang in the air as she repeated her action with her other arm, the two halves forming a complete circle. The separation was complete, and she could feel a surge of energy fill her. She brought her arm back, and thrust it forward, through the center of the circle. The energy followed her movement, and a brilliant bolt of lightning emerged from her fingertips. The bolt lit up the sky, darkening even the sun for a few moments.

Perfect- perfect form, perfect execution. Everything was perfect.

And Rei expected nothing less from herself than perfection.

As she walked down the halls of the fortress, she allowed a smile to creep across her face. She had taken away the one weapon he had against her. This time, there would be no surprises. She would be ready. And she would beat him again.

_Jin_.

She smirked at the thought of him. Oh, the hatred still burned when she thought of him, but now that they were on even ground, she could afford to relax ever so slightly.

She had mastered lightning, so now one question remained:

_What should she do with him?_

Oh no, she wouldn't kill him; there would be no fun in doing that. In fact, that was probably exactly what he would want. And she had no intention of giving into the wishes of someone weaker than she was.

So, she would keep him alive. But not out of the goodness of her heart. After all, how many people could say they held the mighty _Avatar_ at their mercy? She wondered what sorts of things she could do with her new "toy."

What fun they would have together.

But what to do? There was so much potential.

She could have his friends killed before his very eyes. Or better yet, she could force him to do it himself. Tempting, but no. If he found out his friends were dead, he might try to join them. So she would need to keep his friends alive, or at the very least, convince him that his friends were still alive.

Conventional torture? Also tempting, but again, no. Eventually he would grow accustomed to it, and allow his mind to wander elsewhere as his body suffered.

Then, Rei had a thought- what about her "special treatment?" Oh yes, that would do nicely. It was something she saved only for her very favorite playthings. Jin was young, and while there were others more handsome than him, he certainly came with the most perks. There was little doubt in her mind that she would be visiting him often with her special treatment. She'd seen its effects firsthand, and was very pleased by what she saw. It was one thing to inflict pain on another. But her special treatment caused pain that conventional torture could only _dream_ of accomplishing. To watch a man struggle beneath her, fighting a losing battle against his very biology… that sort of pain was like eating some rare delicacy. Delectable… exquisite… _delicious_. Her mouth began watering as she wondered how he would try to fight the pain.

Would he cry and beg her to stop like the pathetic coward he truly was?

Would he bark threats and insults at her like a rabid fox-hound trapped in a cage?

Or would his simply screw his eyes shut, trying to pretend it was all some horrible nightmare he would soon wake up from?

It wouldn't matter in the end. No matter what he did, it would never change the fact that from that day forward, he would belong to her in every possible way. And eventually, he would stop fighting, just like all the others. He would _beg_ for her special treatment, and when she satisfied herself, he would be grateful that he had the privilege to pleasure her.

She suppressed her smile as she prepared to enter her father's study. Since the beginning of the month, he remained there almost constantly, only leaving sporadically to meet with his lieutenants. She knocked on the door. Within, she heard him say, "Enter." She pushed open the door. Her father sat at a desk across from her, numerous papers stacked around him. However, his attention was turned to a small piece of metal he was cleaning. A few other pieces of metal were laid out in front of him, alongside the empty shell of his mach pistol.

"You wished to see me, Commander?" she asked. Rei had not called the man who sat in front of her "Father" in over three years.

Rao carefully began to reassemble his pistol. "I assume you already know that we're leaving tomorrow."

"I do." Rao never took the direct approach when he asked for something, preferring to lead into the subject- it was something that always wore on Rei's nerves.

"And you remember our discussion last week?"

"_Yes_, Commander." Did he really think she was that incompetent?

"I know I'm repeating myself, but you need to understand this, Rei. Your duty is to fight the Avatar, but you need to remember that there will be other foes on the battlefield."

"You're more worried about me fighting common foot soldiers than you are about me fighting the Avatar? I thought you'd have more faith in your own daughter's abilities."

"I have the utmost faith in your training, Rei. And I'm sure that you would be more than a match for any soldier that you may encounter. But I'm just concerned for your wellbeing. Remember that even the mightiest of kings can be struck down by the lowliest of peasants." He looked down at his fully assembled pistol, and pulled the hammer back with his thumb. He held it out before him and pulled the trigger, and a click sounded from within the gun. Satisfied, Rao laid the pistol back down on his desk. "Be sure to wake up early. We'll need to leave early tomorrow morning if we're going to reach Ba Sing Se by New Year's. That is all."

* * *

"_Rei, come on out. I'd like you to meet your new teacher." Rei peered out nervously from behind her father's leg at the strange man in front of them. "Rei, this is Lieutenant Yan. He'll be your waterbending teacher." The young Rei looked at the man, then up to her father. "But Daddy, I thought you were going to be my teacher." Rao bent down to look her daughter in the eye and replied, "I know I promised you that I would be your teacher, and I hate to disappoint you, but I just can't help you with this."_

_The nine-year-old's eyes widened in shock. "But Daddy, I thought… I thought the Avatar could bend all four elements."_

"_I know Rei, but… after the war, the Avatar Spirit was weakened, and the Avatar couldn't bend all four elements anymore. But it's gotten stronger, and I can bend three elements. Your grandfather could only bend two. And now that you have the Avatar Spirit, I'm sure you'll be able to bend all four."_

"_You really think so?"_

_Rao ran her fingers through Rei's hair and replied, "Of course I do, my little Avatar." Rei looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks Daddy."_

Rei awoke. She sat up in her cot; rather than her room, she was in a small cabin aboard the Mobile Fortress. She had these kinds of dreams often- of her past, of her training with her father, and Lieutenant Yan, and the other lieutenants of the Order. When she was six years old, she began with earthbending, just as her father had, and as all the commanders of the Order before him had. That had been easy enough, but the next year, he began to teach her firebending. It was hard, harder than anything she'd ever done, but after her training, she became just as skilled as any of the Order's elite firebenders. After that, she began her airbending training. Incredibly, airbending had proven even harder than firebending. But she was determined to master the element, often training so hard she simply slept on the floor of the fortress's dojo, not having the strength to walk back to her own bed. It would take her two years to fully master that element, and her mastery of it marked the end of her father's teaching. From then on Yan and the other lieutenants would train her. To complete her training, Yan taught her waterbending. Just like airbending, it was incredibly difficult, and she would train to the point where she could no longer walk. As before, it would take another two years before her skills would surpass that of her teacher.

Six years. In all, it had taken six years to master the four elements. But at the end of those six years, she had become the pride of her father, the Order, and likely the entire world. Rei had finally succeeded where her father and her predecessors failed. She had accomplished what benders had dreamed of doing since before recorded history. For the first time, there was someone, who was not the Avatar, who could bend all four elements. Rei had learned that little fact shortly after Yan had declared her waterbending training complete. So, she wasn't really the Avatar, but her mastery of the four elements meant that she was one of the strongest benders alive. Just as strong as the Avatar.

Maybe even stronger.

He was waiting out there somewhere.

She would find him.

And she would defeat him.

There would be no surprises this time.


	32. Chapter XXXII: Countdown

Chapter XXXII: Countdown

"Alright, it's taken some time, but our forces are finally in position." Shengxian pointed to the section of map on the southwest edge of Ba Sing Se's outer wall. "We believe our current position is the best to intercept the Order."

"Shengxian, how can you be sure that the Order won't just fly over our forces?"

"Due to the animosity between our organizations, we don't think the Order will willingly overlook a chance to try and wipe us out. But you have brought up a good point, Qiang. The Order will deposit the majority of their forces outside the wall- however, they will keep a small detachment of troops aboard the Mobile Fortress. We suspect that this force will open one of the Gates, through which the Order's main force will be able to enter the city. Therefore, eliminating the Mobile Fortress should be our first priority. Avatar, Miss Bei Fong, we believe that as metalbenders, you are the best equipped to handle this assignment.

"Once the Mobile Fortress has been dealt with, our next target is Rei. Because of her nature, she is the single most dangerous element under the Order's control. After the Mobile Fortress has been taken care of, we need to find her and--"

"No."

"No? Avatar, do you realize--"

"I do. But she's not interested in fighting anyone but me. I'll face her. With any luck, she'll probably find me first."

"Alright then… Avatar, since you've volunteered, your next assignment after disabling the Mobile Fortress is to confront Rei."

"But what about the rest of us?"

"The rest of the our forces will be focused on defeating the Order's forces, Fujian. We'll hold another meeting tomorrow to discuss how we will be fielding our army. And, before I forget, we have one final target: Commander Rao. If we capture or otherwise incapacitate him it will severly weaken the Order's forces. It may not be enough to force surrender, but the Order's force will be thrown into disarray, enabling us to quickly dispose of them. I believe that covers our primary targets. Are there any questions?"

Silence.

"If there are no questions, meeting adjourned."

* * *

Tenzin meditated in his cell. He had done so ever since he had been imprisoned here some months ago, for hours at a time. He wasn't worried about being executed- the moles within the Order would ensure that the edicts for his execution were conveniently "misplaced."

But although they would do what they could, the moles couldn't release him. Not yet. It was far too soon. But that would change with the news he received that morning. There was a knock at the cell door, and the small metal plate blocking a slot at eye level on the door slid open. A young person- Tenzin assumed it to be a man, but he couldn't be sure- peered inside for a few moments. He disappeared from view, and a tray of food slid under the door. The man then reappeared, his hand gripping the slot. Tenzin saw the sign- a series of white strings tied to the joints of his fingers. If one didn't deliberately look for it, one would never know it was there at all. Tenzin knew what it meant.

This man was a mole. One of many the White Lotus had planted within the Order.

"Master Tenzin," the man said, "I have news for you. The Commander left early yesterday morning with a detachment of troops."

"I see. I believe it's time for us to take action." Tenzin stood up. "You may want to step back." The man disappeared from the slot. Tenzin readied himself, feeling the air around him slowly begin to flow. He focused the air into his hand, compressing it down to a paper-thin edge before swinging his arm in a wide, horizontal swipe. The wind scythe shot across the room and sliced through the door, the two halves falling to the floor. He stepped out of the cell, free.

At that moment, two guards rounded a corner a short distance down the hall. One shouted, "You, stop right there!" But Tenzin was already preparing for them. He drew in a large breath, and let out a loud shriek directly at the two guards, subtly amplifying its vibrations to unbearable levels. The shriek seemed to fly down the hall, visibly distorting the air. It reached the two guard; their hands immediately shot up and clamped over their ears, trying futilely to block out the devastating sound. One guard fell to his knees, followed shortly by the other, and soon, both collapsed onto their faces, motionless. Tenzin stopped his assault to say to the mole, "Gather the rest of our agents. And tell them to open every cell they come across. We are going to take this fortress, and leave the Order with no place to hide." The mole replied quickly, "Yes sir!" and retreated down the hall.

When he was gone, Tenzin approached the bodies of the two guards. He bent down, and pulled a large ring of keys from one. He looked down at him briefly; his hands were still futilely pressed against his ears, blood leaking from the gaps between his fingers. Blood also trickled out from his nose, his mouth, and even his eyes. Tenzin knew precisely what had happened to these two men. Such intense vibrations would cause severe injuries- internal bleeding, hemorrhaging, and even liquefaction of internal organs. Such was the result of soundbending, home to some of the deadliest known airbending techniques. Unfortunately, this was not the first time Tenzin had to use them, to deadly effect, nor would it be the last.

Tenzin was an Air Nomad. His people avoided violence, and would never willingly take another life, unless in self defense. Tenzin had killed these two men preemptively and without hesitation. He knew that by doing so, he had broken the most sacred laws of his people. But he also knew that this was war- one has to be ready to kill, lest they themselves be killed. And when the time came, even an Air Nomad knew when _not_ to pull their punches.

* * *

"Hey Toph."

"What is it, Nina?"

"So, what'll you be doing on the invasion?"

"I'll be taking down the Mobile Fortress. You know that."

"Yeah, but… by yourself?"

"Of course not. Jin will be there, and so will my mom."

"Alright, but how are going to get up the Mobile Fortress? It'll be up in the air during the battle."

"We'll fly there. Yu will take my mom, and I'll be flying with Jin."

"Oh."

There was a short pause before Toph asked, "But what about you? What'll you be doing?"

"I'll be fighting on the front lines."

"So, if you're on the front lines, and me, Jin and Yu will be on the Mobile Fortress, where will Kohta be?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but the Grand Masters put Kohta in charge of his own platoon. In fact, I'll taking orders from him."

"Really? That's good, I guess."

"So, what'll happen when you and Jin take down the Mobile Fortress?"

"Well, me, my mom, and Yu will come down and fight on the front lines, too. Jin… well, you know."

"Where is he, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. Preparing, probably."

* * *

In another section of the camp, Jin was panicking. New Year's was only two days away now. He'd been taught well, by Aang and his bending teachers, but he still didn't feel that he was ready. The day before, he'd been assigned to take down the Mobile Fortress. That would be easy enough- Toph and her mother would be there, and the three would be more than enough to take it down. No, _that_ was the easy part. What worried him was what came afterward.

Rei.

He would have to face her. He'd volunteered to do it during the invasion. Aang himself had ordered him to stop her. And almost from the moment he had awoken after their battle, he had been preparing himself, both physically and mentally, for this day.

But in spite of his preparations, doubt lingered in his mind. Could he do it? Their first battle had resulted in his crushing defeat, Jin losing an arm and Toph an eye for their troubles. Of course, his lost arm had been replaced with a metal prosthetic, he had trained with his mentors as often as they could, and he had even learned a special bending technique directly from Aang. But even this knowledge couldn't shake the feelings of doubt that plagued him.

Jin sat near the base of the wall. He focused, calling out to the spirits of his predecessors. His eyes glowed for a moment, as did his arm, and an ethereal cloud departed from his body. It lingered in front of him for several moments until finally, the shape of Avatar Han became visible. The sun had just set, and the former Avatar seemed to glow in an unearthly light. "Jin," he said. "I see that you have called upon me. What do you need?"

"Avatar Han," Jin began, "I… I need your advice. The invasion's only two days away now, and even though I've been training for this, I don't feel like I'm ready."

"I don't blame you. In fact, if anyone should be in this position, it should be me. This… _all_ of this, is because of me. I wish I could do something more to help you. If I could, I would fight Rei in your place. But my time has long since passed. But you're more ready for this than you realize. Remember, Jin, that you're the Avatar. You alone have the strength to defeat Rei, and restore the balance of the world." Han's image faded.

Jin felt a little bit better, but still, doubts lingered. He focused again, calling out past Han, and again, his eyes and arm glowed. The cloud appeared again, taking the form of Aang. "We meet again," he said simply.

"Avatar…" Jin stopped himself. "_Aang_, I need advice."

"In two days, the Order will arrive. In two days, you, your friends, and the entire world must face your destiny. You have done all you can to prepare, and now, that day is almost upon you. But you don't need to be afraid. I offer you this wisdom, Jin: You are the Avatar. You carry within you the knowledge and skills of all the past Avatars. Their power is always open to you." Aang's image faded.

Doubts still lingered. So Jin focused again, calling out past Han and pass even Aang. The cloud appeared again, and drifted a short distance away, before taking form. It took the appearance of a man, much older than Aang or Han, with a long beard and heavy robes. "It's good to finally meet you, Jin," the man said, "I am Avatar Roku, the Avatar before Aang."

"Avatar Roku, the Order's invasion begins in two days, and even though I've been training, I don't feel like I'm ready. Is there any way you can help me?"

Roku was silent for several moments before saying, "In my time, I was friends with Fire Lord Sozin. But he was ambitious, dangerously so, and it was him who began the Great War seven hundred years ago. But he was my friend, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Sozin betrayed me, and with the power of a comet, began a war that would last for a hundred years. I could have stopped him- a decisive victory could have ended the war before it ever began. You are the Avatar, Jin, and you alone have the strength to restore the balance of the world. However, strength alone will not be enough. The Order is tenacious- only an absolute, indisputable defeat will be enough to stop them. I offer you this wisdom, Jin: though you have the strength to defeat you enemy, your victory must be decisive." Roku's image faded.

Jin wasn't sure if this last piece of advice made him feel better or worse. He decided to ask one last Avatar for advice. He reached out one last time, and the cloud took the form of a woman- a woman with black hair and a heavy robe. But what drew Jin's attention was her oddly familiar face paint. "Greetings, Jin," she said. "I am Avatar Kyoshi. Like you, I was an Avatar from the Earth Kingdom."

"Avatar Kyoshi, in a few days, the Order will attack Ba Sing Se. I have to face Rei again. I… I don't know if I'm strong enough to defeat her."

"In my time, the Earth Kingdom was dominated by a ruthless tyrant, known as Chin the Conqueror. His dominion spread across the Earth Kingdom, until finally, his armies came to my homeland and demanded that I surrender to him. Chin's war for domination threatened the balance of the world, so as the Avatar, it was my responsibility to kill him, and preserve the balance. Afterward, I separated my home from the mainland to protect my people from the likes of Chin. I offer you this wisdom, Jin: You are the Avatar. You are granted both the knowledge and the ability to do whatever is necessary to maintain the balance of the world." Kyoshi's image faded.

* * *

Rao made his way to the bow of the airship. He encountered very few guards; it was the dead of night, and most of the occupants of the ship, save for a very small skeleton crew, would be sleeping at this time. The moon was nearly full, illuminating the hall Rao walked down. After a few minutes, he reached the bridge; the few crew members there snapped to attention when they saw him, but his interest was focused elsewhere. Outside, past the bridge, was an observation deck, and there stood the person he was looking for. He crossed the bridge, opened the hatch to the outside, and stepped onto the deck. The wind was calm, and not loud enough that one would have to shout over it. He called out, "Rei."

Rei glanced back over her shoulder for a few moments, but didn't fully turn to face her father. In those few moments, Rao saw that his daughter's eyes were very red. "Rei," he said, "you should rest. You'll need your strength for when we reach Ba Sing Se."

Rei turned away from her father and replied simply, "No."

"Rei, be reasonable about this. You need to sleep. We reach Ba Sing Se tomorrow night."

"No. I can't sleep… I won't. Not as long as _he's_ out there."

"I know you're apprehensive about fighting the Avatar, but--"

"I'm not afraid of him," she snapped.

"_But_, if you're going to defeat him, you need to be at full strength. Rest. You'll need your strength." At this, Rei turned to face him. She said only, "Fine," and retreated to the depths of the airship. Of course, Rei had no intention of sleeping. Just as she said, she would not rest as long as _Jin_ was still out there. She had to be ready. But what could she do. It was the dead of night, and trying to practice in the cargo hold might draw unwanted attention. But at the same time, she wouldn't be able to any training beyond the very basics. She entered her quarters and closed the door.

Well, the very basics would have to do.

She grabbed a black sheet of paper that had been laying on the ground, and with a light flick of her fingers, pushed the paper into the air. This was one of the very first airbending exercises Rei had ever learned. Her father had made it into a game when she was younger, testing her to see how long she could keep it up in the air. It would pass the time nicely, and if she got bored, the paper made a wonderful target for a fireball, even if it only lasted one shot. So, she laid back on her cot, lightly flicking her fingers, seeing how long she could keep that paper aloft.

* * *

Jin suddenly bent over and vomited on the ground. The knot in his stomach had returned, tying itself tighter than ever before, and prevented him from eating anything since he'd woken up that morning. Jin took several deep breaths before standing up straight, knees weak, his entire body trembling. "Jin, are you feeling alright?" Yu asked. Jin nodded, and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure don't look like it." Even just a quick glance would tell anyone Jin was anything _but_ fine.

"Can you blame me? The Order's invasion is only a few hours away." The Grand Masters had called one last meeting that morning; there, everyone learned that the Order would attack before dawn the next morning. That information then made its way through the camp, putting everyone on edge. Now it was midday, meaning there was only between twelve and sixteen hours remaining to prepare.

"Jin, I thought you'd gotten over this a few weeks ago. You aren't going to start having nightmares again, are you?"

"No. It's just… I'm not looking forward to fighting Rei again. You know, considering what happened the last time." He held up his prosthetic for emphasis.

"Come on, you've been getting ready for months. And besides, you learned from the best."

"Yeah…" Jin replied, thinking to himself, _And last time, that wasn't good enough_. He began to walk away

"Hey wait, where are you going?" Yu asked.

"Don't worry about me, Yu. I'll be fine. I just need to think about something for a while." In truth, Jin felt another bout of nausea coming on, and he would rather not be around anyone when it decided to surface.

Some time passed. Jin sat near the edge of the camp, looking out over the dead land that stretched outward from the wall. He felt someone coming through the ground, and looked over his shoulder. It was Kohta. "Hey," Jin said. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"I heard what happened from Yu. I take it that you are… apprehensive about the invasion." Jin simply nodded; "apprehensive" barely began to describe how he felt at that moment.

"The hardest part of a battle is the calm right before. That is what my father used to tell me. It is frustrating, not being able to take action."

"I… it's just… what if I fail? What if I'm not strong enough to beat Rei?"

"Jin, you are the Avatar, the one true master of all four elements. You alone were charged with the responsibility of maintaining the balance of the world. If anyone can defeat Rei, it will be you." There was a brief lull in the conversation before Kohta said, "If I were you, I would try to get some rest. The Order will arrive some time before dawn tomorrow morning, so you should try to get as much sleep as you can right now." Kohta then stood up and left Jin to be alone. After a few more minutes of staring out over the barren landscape, Jin stood up and followed him.

He made his way back to his group's encampment, and climbed into his earth tent. Jin closed his eyes, trying to sleep in spite of the knot in his stomach. A few hours were all that remained now. In a few hours, the fate of the entire world would be decided.


	33. Chapter XXXIII: New Year

Chapter XXXIII: New Year

Jin was awakened by several loud popping noises. He quickly opened up his earth tent; in the sky above, rockets flew into the air from behind the wall, before exploding in brilliant flashes of light. He figured out what the fireworks meant- it was midnight, and the new year had arrived. _Happy New Year_, he thought to himself glumly. The knot in his stomach tightened. He did feel more rested than he had a few hours before, but it did little to relieve his doubts. He sat back, deciding to watch the fireworks; none were being lit in the camp, either because they didn't have any, or the Grand Masters didn't want to let all of Ba Sing Se know there was an army waiting just outside its walls.

After a few minutes, Jin became aware of a person sitting next to him. He looked over to see Toph sitting next to him. "Oh… hey, Toph," he said.

"Hey Jin," she replied.

"So, uh… what are you doing here? With me?"

"Well, the invasion's in a few hours. Well, you know that, but, um, since we'll be flying up to the… um, Mobile Fortress, I figured I should come find you. You know, so we can be ready when the Order gets here."

"Oh! Well, that… that makes sense, I guess. Now that I think about it, I should probably go get my glider."

"That would be a good idea." Jin got up to retrieve his glider before sitting back down with Toph. It was already happening. This awkward moment would be only the first of many more to come. The two sat in silence for several more minutes; Jin inspected his glider; Toph adjusted the bandages over her eye. He knew he shouldn't dwell on it, but Jin's mind went back to that day. He knew he couldn't do much about it, but…

"Toph? Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Toph, I… I know this will sound like I'm repeating myself, but I'm sorry. For everything."

"Jin--"

"No. Toph, please. I… it was… things are just wrong now. If I'd know all of this would've happened, I would have never told you any of this." Jin suddenly found himself met with an angry glare from Toph. "That… didn't come out right."

"So you're feeling sorry for yourself just because things didn't turn out the way you wanted them to."

"No! Toph, you were my earthbending teacher, but you were more than just that; you were my friend. You were my _best friend_. You still are my best friend, or… at least, I hope you are. Look… It doesn't matter if you don't feel the same way about me that I do about you. I would take back everything I said if I knew that I'd lose my best friend."

Toph did not reply. "Toph, I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me. But what we had… it was _special_. And it wasn't right of me to try to change that. I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry."

Toph raised her hand. Jin recoiled, expecting her to strike him, but was surprised when instead she rested it on his shoulder. It was the first time in weeks that she had touched him so softly (or touched him at all, for that matter). "Jin…" She said. "The invasion's in a few hours. We'll take down the Mobile Fortress, you'll beat Rei, and you, me, Nina, Yu, Kohta… we'll all stop the Order. After that, I promise you, _I promise you_, we'll talk about all of this."

"…you mean that?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"…no."

At that moment, Yu and Toph's mother approached. Yu said, "Hey Toph, Jin. Since we're going to go up to the Mobile Fortress, Kohta said we should plan what we're going to do."

Miss Bei Fong then spoke. "Unfortunately, the White Lotus wasn't able to acquire any blueprints of the airship," she said. "Everything they know about its layout comes from eyewitness accounts. There are some ambiguities, but the Grand Masters believe they have enough information to form a basic layout of the airship's interior."

Yu bent down and drew a rough outline in the shape of an airship in the dirt. Next to it, he drew what appeared to be a staircase with three steps. "Okay, from what the Grand Masters told me, the, um… _gondola_ of the airship has three decks. The very bottom deck is for cargo. The top deck is where the bridge and crew quarters are. But our main focus is the middle deck. That's where the engines are."

"So, our job is to take out the airship's engines?" Toph asked.

"Well, that's part of it. First, we need to get to the bridge. The bridge is here, at the front of the airship." Yu pointed to the front end of his drawing. "We have to disable the airship's controls, then we can focus on the engines."

"Okay," Jin said. "So we destroy the bridge, and then we destroy the engines. Sounds easy enough."

"Unfortunately, disabling the engines will be the hardest part of this," Miss Bei Fong then said. "Even though most of the Order's troops will have already disembarked, we won't be alone. Not only we will be fighting the crew of the airship, but also the force tasked with bringing down Ba Sing Se's internal defenses. In addition, there are a large number of engines on the airship, and we need to disable most of them to stop it."

"How many are there?"

"There are four engines in the rear, and another six on each side of the airship," Yu replied.

"Sixteen engines? Are you kidding me? Why can't we just punch a hole in the side of the airship?"

"Well, airships aren't like other balloons. Most have a rigid frame that's just empty, except for an envelope that holds lighter-than-air gas. That's how an airship floats, but we'd have to go through the gondola to reach it. If we tried to go through the outside, it would take too long to cut through the frame. If we get inside, we could punch a hole in the envelope, but if the hole isn't big enough the airship won't go down before it reaches the city. But at the same time, if the hole's too big, we won't be able to get out of the ship before it crashes."

"Did you forget that there are two people here who can bend metal?"

Yu was silent for a few moments, then said, "Alright, we'll cut a hole in the envelope, but we'll save that as a last resort. Taking out the engines comes first."

Some time passed. The fireworks eventually stopped, but the night was well illuminated by the nearly full moon. The group had been waiting in their own camp when the alert went up. They could see the Order's forces approaching- the blasted landscape left few places to hide. And high above the ground forces was the Mobile Fortress. Kohta was the first to rise, and said simply, "It is time." The others stood as well. Yu asked, "So Kohta, once we take down the Mobile Fortress, me and Toph come back to you, right?"

"That is correct. So, is everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded solemnly. Jin looked from Kohta to Toph, who stood next to him. He thought for several moments, before he reached out and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close. "Jin, what are you--"

"I'm sorry…" he replied. "It's just… last time we… we might not make it back from this." After several confused moments, Toph embraced Jin. "Jin," she said. "We'll be okay. I mean, we made it this far, didn't we?"

At that moment, Jin felt another pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. "Toph's right," he heard Nina say. "I mean, this is it. We've been preparing for this for the last few months- the least we can do is see this through all the way to the end."

Another pair of arms wrapped around Toph and Jin's shoulders. "Come on, Jin," Yu said, "have a little confidence. You did learn from the best after all." At this, a small smile crept across Jin's face. Yu then looked over his shoulder at Kohta, and said, "You're part of the group, Kohta- that means you're a part of group hugs, too." After a moment's hesitation, Kohta approached and wrapped his arms around as much of the four as he could. "I know that I have only been a part of your group for a short time. And I wish that I could have met all of you sooner. But you are all very skilled- I have the utmost confidence in all of you." The group held onto each other for a few more seconds before Kohta finally said, "We need to go." They let go of each other. Kohta and Nina began to make their way to the western part of the camp; Yu stayed for a few moments to say, "I need to go find Miss Bei Fong."

Jin took his glider off of his back. "Do you want us to wait for you?"

"No, you should go on ahead. I'll catch up with you."

"We'll be waiting." Yu disappeared into the surrounding forest of tents. Jin snapped his glider open, grabbing the handles near the front. He bent down, allowing Toph to climb on- she wrapped her legs around his waist, and her arms around his shoulders, the body of the glider between the two of them. "Is that okay? I'm not strangling you, am I?"

"It's fine. Hold on tight." Jin began focusing, trying to direct the air currents. After they had built enough strength, Jin bent down, and then jumped into the air. It was a special way of taking off that Yu had showed him, but with another person, it was much more difficult than he remembered. He had to compensate by strengthening the wind currents, but he managed to get the two of them into the air without crashing. He steered the glider toward the airship in the west, carefully maintaining the cushion of air keeping the glider aloft. The approach was slow, slower than he had anticipated, but it meant that it would take Yu less time to catch up with him. Some minutes passed, and the massive black airship loomed before the two of them. As Jin banked the glider around to the side, he could see a large symbol had been painted onto the side of the ship- a square standing on one corner, with each corner connected by a circle. The symbol of the Order.

Jin and Toph landed on a walkway that circled the lowest deck. Toph slid off of him, and he snapped his glider shut. "Alright, were onboard," Jin said. "Now all we have do is wait for Yu to get here and we can take this thing down."

"Hold on for just a second. I'll find a way inside." She walked over to the metal wall on the inside of the walkway and tapped on it. After a few taps, she smashed her fist against it, causing the metal to buckle and tear, and ripped a massive home in the side of the ship. "Oh look, a way inside."

"Thanks, Toph."

"Don't mention it." The wind picked up for a moment, and Yu landed on the walkway nearby, with Toph's mother clinging to him. "Okay, you're here," Jin said. "So, what's first?"

"First, we get to the bridge and destroy it. Then, we take out the engines. And if we have to, we cut open the envelope and get out of here."

"Fair enough. Let's go." Jin was the first to step through the hole. The interior of the deck was dark, and judging from the vibrations in the ground, nearly empty. A little unnerved, he said, "Okay, this is a little creepy. Where is everyone?" He heard Toph reply from beside him, "Don't worry- there are people onboard, but there aren't any on this deck." She was silent for several moments before saying, "There a staircase in the middle of this deck. We can take it all the way up to the top deck." She began to walk into the darkness; Jin said over his shoulder, "Stay close," and followed her. The four made their way to the center of the room and up the stairs; at the top, Jin reached to push the door open, but Toph stopped him. "Hold on, there's someone out in the hall."

"How many?"

"Just one, but there's plenty nearby and I'm sure taking him out will draw some attention."

"Alright. Everyone, get ready." He looked back for a moment, Toph, her mother, and Yu all nodded when he made eye contact with them. Jin pressed himself against the doorframe, feeling the vibrations in the metal. There was a guard out there, on the left side of the door. He readied himself, focusing as much energy as he felt was necessary as a breeze began to blow, seemingly from his body. Then, in mere seconds, he threw the door open, stepping into the hall, and tossing a massive arc of solid air down the hall. The guard had only enough time to let out a surprised "What--" before being slammed against the wall and crumpling to the floor. Toph was right- there had been other guards on the deck, and judging from the vibrations, they heard the commotion and were all heading right toward them.

Jin said quickly, "Close off the hall behind us. And close off any doors you find on the way to the bridge- we don't need anyone sneaking up on us on our way to the bridge." Toph's mother was the first to react, grabbing hold of the metal wall by the door and dragging the plating to the other side of the hall- then, she hammered the edges into the opposite wall and the floor. "Okay that should hold them off for a little while…" she said, "but we have to hurry. Any decent firebender could melt his way through this in only a few minutes."

"Alright, let's go." And the four made their way to the front of the airship. Toph and her mother closed off the hallways on the way to the bridge while Jin and Yu fought off any soldiers that were able to slip through, before they reached a door at the end of the hall. "Finally," Toph said as she sealed one last hallway shut. One guard slipped through, but before anyone else could react, she encased her fist in metal and slammed it against the guard's jaw, knocking him out in one hit. She finished sealing off the hall and asked, "So, we just have to destroy everything in the bridge?"

"Pretty much," Yu replied. "Then we can take out the engines and get out of here." He stepped toward the door and lowered himself into an airbending stance. "Toph, is there anyone by the door?"

Toph pressed her hand against the wall alongside the door. "There're five. And one's right in front of the door."

"Perfect." He began focusing, then thrust his hand out, knocking the door right off its hinges and into the guard behind it. Yu rushed inside, and several shouts and clanging sounds emerged. The remaining three rushed inside as well, only to see Yu knock a guard off his feet with a sweep kick, spin, grab the guard's head, and slam it into the ground, all in one movement. The remaining four guards were scattered around, slumped against walls or various consoles around the bridge. "Get the other door," Yu said to nobody in particular. Toph moved into the bridge and sealed off another door, presumably leading to the opposite side of the airship. "So do we just start smashing, or…"

Yu answered her question by swiping his arm, sending out a wind scythe that sliced a console in half. The others began to follow his example. Toph and her mother crushed the consoles with metalbending, while Jin used firebending to incinerate them. After a few moments, all the consoles were destroyed. "Okay," Yu said. "Now we need to get to the middle deck and take out the engines."

"I can take care of that," Toph said, before bending down and tearing a hole in the floor. She jumped down into the hole, and after a few moments, called out, "It's all clear!" Jin was the next to jump down, followed by Yu and finally Toph's mother. The four had landed in what appeared to be a small crew quarters- they were surrounded by several bunk beds but the room itself was empty.

"Okay," Yu said, "now, I don't think we have to disable every engine on the ship."

"Huh? Why not?" Jin asked.

"Well, since we destroyed the bridge, the crew of this ship won't be able to make any corrections if they go off course. So, all we need to do is destroy enough engines to push the ship away from the city. I think all we have to do is destroy the engines along one side of the ship, and the ones in the rear for good measure. That should be enough to force the ship off course."

"Alright. So which side of the ship should we go for?"

"Based on its current course, I'd say we should disable the engines on the starboard side of the ship."

"Umm…"

"The right side."

"Oh! Well, we should get going then." Jin began to head for the door, but Toph stopped him. "Hold up. Let me check things out first." She pressed her hand against the wall. "Judging from the vibrations, it feels like everyone on the ship is on the top deck. I'm not sure, but I think this level is all clear." She pushed the door open and peered out- at first glance, it seemed the hall was empty. "Looks okay." She stepped out into the hall. "Alright, come on. Let's find those engines." The others stepped out into the hall to join her, and they proceeded down the hallway to the left. It seemed the hallway was clear, but Jin couldn't shake a feeling of unease.

Suddenly, he could hear a strange sound from behind the group. He looked back, to be met with a massive wall of flame. He only had time to let out a short cry, alerting the rest of the group, before it made contact. He swung his arms up to cover himself defensively, unintentionally creating a small vortex that blew the flames around him, and the others tried to avoid the flames as best as they could. Yu was the first to respond, sending a massive torrent of air down the hall where the fire had come from. Toph then grabbed the metal wall again, and sealed off the hallway. Soldiers were already coming down from the other end of the hall. The two moved to react, but Jin made the first move. He slammed his hands into the wall, causing it to crumple immediately, sending small, almost invisible cracks down the walls, floor, and ceiling of the hall; then, he dug his fingers in and tore down.

The result was far more spectacular that anyone could have guessed. With great sounds of shearing metal and loud pops as bolts were ripped away from supports, the hallway tore away along the cracks that had formed. Then, Jin shoved the hallway downward, tearing the hall even further from the ship. He began pulling left, and more sounds of popping bolts sounded as the deck separated from the ship. With several hard tugs, the entire hall, along with several portions of the upper and lower decks was torn away from the side of the ship. He pulled until he reached the other side of the hall, then, gave one last hard kick against the outside wall of the hallway. There was one last shriek as the metal bent out of shape, then suddenly the hallway dipped, and with a loud snap, the section broke off the airship and tumbled down to the ground below. In the massive gap along where the hallway had once been, a battle could be seen raging below, yellow-orange flashes lighting up from time to time- firebenders, no doubt. Jin looked over the landscape for a few moments before turning back, the glow in his eyes and arm quickly fading away. As he turned, he asked, "Is everyone alright?" When nobody responded, he looked back.

Yu was busy trying to wrap one on his arm. Then, his eyes immediately fell on Toph's mother. She hadn't been as lucky as Yu, having a very large burn that covered most of her back. Toph was right by her side, either oblivious to or consciously ignoring a burn on her leg. Jin hurried over to inspect the massive burn on her back, and as he did, Toph looked up at him and said, "Jin, we have to do something. Look at this burn." Jin looked around briefly before spotting a stream of water trickling from a broken pipe at the top of the hole. He guided it over to himself and said, "Okay, I'll try and see if I can do anything about this." He bent down, and pressed his water-coated hands against the burn. The water began to glow in an ethereal light- Jin could feel the water seeping into the wound, mending the damage that had been done. But the process was slow, too slow. He'd never be able to heal her before they reached the city. Jin stood up again and said, "It's no good. I can't heal this by myself. Yu, get her out of here. Toph and I will finish up here."

"No way," he replied. "We're not leaving you."

"Yeah, we're in this together," Toph's mother then said. "It isn't as bad as it looks." She then tried to push herself off the ground, but her cries of pain confirmed the burn was just as bad as it looked.

"Yu, she's hurt," Toph said. "You have to get her to someone who can actually help her." She then looked down at her mother. "Mom, don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

Yu sighed. "Alright. I'll get her out of here." He looked over at the hole. "It looks like you got all the engines on this side of the ship. That just leaves the ones on the back. But be careful- those ones are placed on the outside of the ship."

"Thanks, Yu." Yu unsnapped his glider, and as carefully as he could, helped Toph's mother to her feet and positioned her so she could hold onto him. After a few moments, she secured herself, and Yu flew out the hole and down to the battlefield, eventually disappearing from sight. Jin pulled his glider off his back and asked Toph, "What about you? Can you walk?" He motioned to her leg. She stood up and replied, "I'll be fine."

At that moment, Jin became aware of a strange scent, like something burning. He looked down at himself- nearly the entire right side of his coat had been burned away, and the rear part had been burned away all the way up to his waist. With a heavy sigh, he put down his glider before he pulled off the coat, folded it, and tossed it out the hole. He'd miss that coat. Jin opened his glider and readied himself for takeoff. "Okay. Get on- we'll probably get to the back of the ship faster by flying." He kneeled down so Toph could climb on. Once she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him, he ran toward the edge of the hole, creating a current to carry the glider. He jumped off the edge- the glider wobbled slightly, but now that he had adjusted to Toph's weight, he quickly righted the glider as he guided it toward the rear of the ship.

After only a few moments, they reached the back of the ship, where the engines were located. He landed, and allowed Toph to climb off. "Huh, this doesn't look too safe," Toph said, looking around. The platform they stood on was fairly small- though it spanned the entire rear of the ship, the walkway was only a couple feet wide, and was rimmed by handrails that didn't even reach up to their waist. Two engines were attached to the hull adjacent to the platform, with the other two below.

"Alright, so all we have to do is destroy these engines, and then we're done. Let's get started." She regarded the engine in front of her for a moment, marveling briefly at the size. Then, the buried her fist in the metal and ripped a hole in the side. She then proceeded to tear out everything she could get her hands on, long after the propeller mounted on the engine had stopped spinning. Then, the entire ship rocked violently. Toph was thrown against the side of the engine, while Jin was tossed against the rails- he was able to catch himself before he fell off. Toph looked back and asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know. But I think _that_ has something to do with it." Jin pointed to a large rudder above the engines- it steadily began turning toward the right side of the ship.

"But I thought we destroyed the controls! They shouldn't be able to control the ship!"

"There must have been another set of controls. We have to hurry and take out these engines before they get back on course." The two began to carefully make their way around the first engine, and were about to begin dismantling the second when the ship rocked again. Jin was tossed against the side of the engine, and as he got back onto his feet, he glanced over to see if Toph was okay.

What he saw made his heart stop.

Toph must have been thrown against the railing when the ship rocked again- she was halfway over the railing, feet no longer touching the ground, arms flailing helplessly as she sought for something to hold onto, pure terror etched into every line on her face. Everything that happened in the next few moments seemed to unravel slowly: Toph tipped over the railing, and began to fall. Without even thinking, Jin leapt toward the edge where Toph was, and grabbed onto her arm. Her terrified screams were cut short when she came to an abrupt halt. Jin suddenly found himself hanging halfway over the walkway, flat on his stomach, the fingers of his prosthetic arm locked firmly around her forearm. The port in his right shoulder throbbed with pain- the designer obviously hadn't made it to handle a situation like this.

"Toph! Are you okay!?" Jin called out.

"Yeah, just fine!" She called back. Jin strained, trying to pull Toph up, but it was no good- he wasn't strong enough to pull her up with one hand.

"Toph, hold on! I'm gonna try something!"

"That's what I'm doing!"

As carefully as he could, he reached back with his free hand and pulled the glider from his back. The stuck it out over the edge. "Toph, grab my glider!" Carefully, Toph began to reach for it, when everything seemed to slow again. Toph's mouth widened into a silent scream as she began to fall again- for what felt like a few seconds but was most likely much less, he thought she'd lost her grip. Then he saw a glint of metal at the edge of his vision; it was the knob at the end of his artificial arm. Trying to support Toph's weight had pulled it right from its port. Reflexively, Jin dropped the glider and grabbed the knob, again stopping Toph's fall. A jolt of pain surged through his arm, but he refused to let go. He strained to pull her up, but again, it was no use- if he couldn't pull up Toph with his right arm- his good arm- there was no chance that he would be able to pull her up with his left.

"I can't pull you up!" he called out. "You have to climb!" Carefully, she began to pull herself up his arm, one hand over the other. Suddenly, her hands slipped, eliciting another terrified scream, and she slid all the way down to his wrist.

"I… I can't!" she called out to him.

Jin wanted to scream in frustration- both of his arms were occupied, and there was nothing he could do to help Toph other than hold on. But there was no way he could hold on forever… and neither could she. Thoughts raced through his head- there had to be something more he could do to help Toph, some way he could--

"Jin! Jin I'm sorry!" Toph called out to him.

"Toph this isn't your fault! I--"

"No! When you told me how you felt about me, I… I lied! I was too scared to admit… to admit that I love you too!"

Had the situation not been so desperate, Jin would have let go of Toph. She let out another yelp when she slid down to the palm of his prosthetic hand- tears of fear began leaking from her good eye. "It's just that I didn't know what to say! Nobody's ever told me something like that! I didn't mean to hurt you like that and--" She slipped again, down to his fingers- she began speaking quickly, her words jumbling together. "And I take it back! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorryI'msorryI'm--"

Her hand slipped out of Jin's.

Toph's screams were silenced by the sound of Jin's pounding heart.

Suddenly, Jin's eyes instantly glowed in a blinding white light. Jin didn't give any thought to what he did next. His body simply acted without any intervention on his part.

Jin leapt off the platform after Toph.

A massive burst of flame emerged from behind him, propelling him toward the falling Toph. As he flew toward her, he mechanically plugged his prosthetic back into its port, completely unaware of the pain it caused. After several moments, he reached her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Thoughts raced through Jin's head- they were several dozen feet over the ground, but Jin's burst of speed had sent them hurtling to the ground even faster. Then he had an idea- he began throwing as many bursts of air and fire toward the ground as he could. They slowed, but it wasn't enough. Their impact with the ground would be delayed by mere seconds. He had another thought. He'd have only one shot at this- if he failed… he didn't think about what would happen.

Twenty feet: He thrust out his arm, sending out a burst of sound, in an attempt to soften the ground.

Fifteen feet: He turned, putting his body between hers and the ground.

Ten feet: He gave her one last tight squeeze. She gave him one in return.

Five feet: Over the wind, he heard her whisper one last time, "I'm sorry."

They hit the ground.

Silence.

It was several seconds before Toph asked, "…Are we dead?"

"Well if we are, at least we have each other," Jin replied. "But I'm pretty sure we're still alive." Jin snapped his fingers, lighting a small fire. He and Toph were in a small stone cavern, still tangled around each other. They had come to rest on what seemed to be a very fine powder. "So, any idea where we are?"

Toph pressed her hand against a nearby wall. "Wow… we're in a hole. A really deep one. Jin, did you make this?"

"I guess so." He couldn't remember precisely what happened when they hit the ground- he guessed that as soon as he made contact, the Avatar Spirit helped him to sink into the ground, slowing him gradually until they came to a stop. The powder must have helped to cushion them.

"We should get out of here," Toph said. She kept her hand pressed to the wall for several moments, then tapped the wall with the heel of her palm, creating a long tunnel that extended into darkness. "That tunnel goes straight to Kohta." Toph freed herself from Jin's grasp and hurried down the tunnel; Jin stood up as well and followed her.

It took several minutes before they reached the end of the tunnel. "Okay, get ready," Toph said. She opened the tunnel. Instantly, they rushed out. They were surrounded by soldiers locked in combat. Several soldiers, the symbol of the Order imprinted on their armor, took notice of them. Toph moved first, sending out several earth columns that knocked a few away. Jin then sent out a massive burst of wind, clearing away all but one. But before either could make a move, a fireball flew from behind them, hitting the soldier directly in the chest and knocking him off his feet. Toph and Jin turned- Nina stood behind them, fist outstretched. "Nice of you to join us," she said.

"Nina," Jin said. "Where's Kohta? We need to talk to him."

"He's over there." She pointed to a large wall of earth at the edge of the crowd. Nina then darted off, to face more soldiers. Jin and Toph hurried over to the wall, which was surrounded by numerous soldiers, these with the symbol of the White Lotus on their armor. One took notice and opened the wall, allowing them inside, quickly sliding it shut afterward. The inside seemed to be some sort of field hospital, numerous injured soldiers scattered around. They spotted Kohta, healing Toph's mother. As they approached, he noticed them, and ordered another soldier to continue his work.

"What happened?" he asked as he approached. "The Mobile Fortress is still heading toward the city."

Toph replied, "Well, we sort of fell off. And Jin lost his glider, so…"

Jin wasn't listening to the conversation though. He was looking up into the sky- sure enough, the airship was still slowly heading to the city. "I'll take care of this," he said. He began to focus, calling on the strength of his past lives. His eyes began to glow, along with his arm. They began to guide his body; he could feel himself reaching out, not into the ground, but the sky. Then, he felt something. _Impossible_, he thought, _unless… yes, of course_.

Jin brought up his arms, feeling the object in his mind, began to draw his arms down, the object following his movement. It was slow at first, because it was so far away; he focused as hard as he could, his head pounding, as he tried to draw in the object. Gradually, it became easier, until a bright object appeared in the sky. It wasn't a star- it was too bright, moved far too quickly, and shone orange rather than white. Jin, and the Avatar Spirits, already knew what the object was- a meteor. With ease, he guided the meteor directly toward the airship; it tore through the airship, and crashed into the ground somewhere far away from the battle. The airship instantly caught fire, massive flames billowing from within as it rapidly descended toward the ground. Eventually, it dropped out of sight below the wall, shortly followed by a bright flash of orange-yellow light. The glow in Jin's eyes faded, and without looking back, asked Kohta, "Is Yu here? I need to talk to him."

"Um… yeah. He is being healed." He pointed over to Yu- he was sitting on a small bed, the burn on his arm being tended. Wordlessly, Jin began to walk away, but Kohta said to him, "Wait. I need to make sure you are unhurt."

"Kohta, come on. I'm fine!"

"_I_ will be the judge of that." Kohta inspected Jin for several moments before saying, "Okay, you can go."

Jin was about to head off again when Toph said to him, "Jin?"

"What is it?" Jin asked, as he turned to face her. Toph remained silent for several moments before she wrapped her arms around him tight. "Be careful, okay?" Jin hugged Toph back and replied, "I will," before continuing on his way again.

Jin began to make his way toward Yu again. When he was close, he heard Yu say excitedly, "Jin that was amazing! I've never seen anything like that before! Are you--"

"Yu, can I borrow your glider? I lost mine when Toph and I were up on the airship."

"…Yeah, sure." The healer stopped his work so Yu could bend down and retrieve his glider. He handed it to Jin, saying, "Take care of it."

"I will," Jin replied, before opening the glider and flying off. He flew over the wall of the small base, and toward the massive wall surrounding Ba Sing Se. Carefully, he guided himself to the top, where he landed and dismounted the glider. The meteor had been very noticeable, and he was sure Rei had seen it. This seemed like the perfect spot to wait for her. Setting the glider down, he sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes, waiting silently.

He didn't have to wait long. After a few minutes, a familiar voice said from behind him, "I found you." He stood up, and turned slowly to face the voice.

It was Rei.

He looked at her silently for several moments. Like the other soldiers he had seen, she was in armor; however, her hair was tangled, and her eyes were very red. It was obvious she hadn't slept in some time. Finally, Rei broke the silence.

"I see you have a new prosthetic," she said, eyeing his arm as she untied one of her vambraces.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I want this to be a fair fight. For both of us." She began untying her other vambrace.

"So you like my prosthetic. Maybe you'd like one to match," he replied, as he watched Rei take off her armor. His words were in direct opposition with the raw terror he felt at that moment.

Rei bent down to take off her greaves. "Funny. I was about to tell you the same thing." She stood up, finally pulling her breastplate over her head and dropping it on the stone floor.

Jin lowered himself into a fighting stance. "That isn't going to work on me, Rei. I'm not afraid of you anymore." He was.

A small smile crept across her face. "Oh really? You're not afraid of me? _You should be_."

A strong wind began to blow as silence settled between the two. A faint light began to shine on the horizon to the east, while to the west, the moon began to sink below the horizon.


	34. Chapter XXXIV: Confrontation

Chapter XXXIV: Confrontation

Jin and Rei stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, Jin lowered in his bending stance, Rei still upright. Jin waited, ready to block any attack Rei might throw at him. Rei smirked, and suddenly shot a jet of fire at Jin- he raised a wall of stone from the ground, blocking the stream. He punched the wall several times, launching several stones at her. She punched her fists together, creating a sphere of wind that deflected the stones. Jin slammed both hands against the wall, sending it sliding toward Rei, but without hesitation, she rooted herself, drew back her arm, and punched the wall, blasting it apart.

Jin swung his arm then made a sweep kick, sending out two air swipes. Rei slid under the first, but failed to avoid the second, and was thrown onto her stomach. She twisted her hand against the ground, and an earth spire tore from the ground and headed directly toward Jin. With a blast of air, he jumped over the spire, and launched two large jets of flame at the downed Rei. She brought up a shell from the bricks of the wall, and the two jets struck, scorching it, but leaving Rei otherwise unharmed. He was about to land a blow to split the shell open when spikes suddenly shot out- Jin launched a blast of air to propel himself away from the spike-coated shell.

When he landed, the shell suddenly exploded into thousands of tiny projectiles. Jin spun his arms, creating a shield to divert most of the stones. Before Rei could launch another attack, he focused, trying to gather as much moisture as he could from the air. From the dust around where Rei had been, a vortex of air shot toward him; with a swing of his arm, Jin raised a rock wall, and the vortex slammed harmlessly into it. All the while, Jin never took his focus off gathering the water. He sent the wall toward Rei with a kick, but Rei easily jumped over it. But Jin had gathered enough moisture- he lashed out his arm, a water whip shooting forward. Rei swung her arm, sending out an air swipe that sliced through his water whip and headed straight toward him. He jumped back to avoid it, but suddenly, the earth wrapped around his foot, knocking Jin onto his back.

Rei set on him instantly, straddling his chest. She brought up her fist, a flame igniting an inch from her knuckles, and punched down toward him. He caught her wrist, the flame only inches from his face. She pushed down; Jin's muscles strained, but the flame inched closer and closer. Then, with a powerful shove, he forced Rei's arms to the ground next to his head, missing by only a few inches. Then, he drew back his right arm and punched Rei in the face as hard as he could. The blow hit dead-on, sending Rei reeling. He thrust out his arms, hitting Rei one last time with an earth column to the chest. Jin quickly got to his feet, while Rei staggered to hers. "How could you?" she asked mockingly. "I'm a lady!" She spat up a small amount of blood, but instead of falling to the ground, it hovered in the air for a few moments. Then Rei thrust out her arm, and the blood shot toward him, hardening into a long, sharp needle. Jin swung his arm in a very wide arc, creating a massive torrent of air that deflected the blood needle and headed straight for her. She drove her heel into the ground, raising a rock wall that easily blocked the wind.

The wall began sliding directly at him. He jumped over it, only to be met with Rei. She delivered a powerful axe kick, which knocked Jin, too surprised to defend himself, to the ground again. He landed on his back. Rei fell toward him, coating her fist with the numerous small stones that were strewn along the top of the wall. Jin rolled out of the way, as Rei's fist impacted the ground where his head had just been. Jin kicked his legs out, knocking out Rei's feet from under her and bringing him back onto his feet- with an airbending-assisted backflip, Rei landed on her feet as well. She charged, drawing back her arm for another punch- Jin blocked it with his metal prosthetic, and quickly pinned Rei's arm with his own.

"You know, you should've surrendered while you still had the chance," she said, as she tried to pull her arm free. "At least then you could have lived."

"I'd never surrender to you."

"Suit yourself." The rock fist suddenly crumbled away under Jin's arm, allowing Rei to pull hers free. Without stopping, she drew her arm back and hit Jin right across the jaw. The blow caught him completely by surprise, almost knocking him off his feet. He quickly crossed both arms, bringing up a shell so he could recover in relative safety. But mere seconds after he brought it up, a fist punched through the wall of his shield. "You can't hide from me!" Rei called out to him in a mocking voice. "Come out and fight like a man!" Another fist punched through the wall. Jin thought to himself, _Maybe I can hide_, and quickly set to work.

The wall blasted open, with a massive jet of fire shooting in immediately after. Rei slowly stepped in, and looked around- the shell was empty. Just then, she felt something wrap around her ankle- she looked down to see a hand sticking up from the ground, gripping her ankle. The ground Rei stood on suddenly softened, quickly hardening once she had sunk up to her neck. Jin tore himself up from the stone and got back onto his feet. Rei struggled against the stone but failed to break through. Them, she locked eyes with Jin for a moment and smirked before suddenly disappearing into the ground. Jin's jaw dropped- moments later, Rei burst from the ground behind him, hand swathed in fire. Just in time, Jin spun and brought up his prosthetic, blocking the blow. She swung with her other arm- Jin blocked this as well. She threw several more fire-enhanced punches, and even a few kicks, that Jin blocked with his prosthetic. But each swing gradually became slower than the one that had come before. And Jin's blocks slowed down as well. Eventually, both barely had the strength to raise their arms. They staggered away from each other, both trying to catch their breath- Jin fell to his knees; Rei bent over. Sweat dropped from the two of them like rain.

As subtly as he could, Jin began to gather the sweat that fell to the ground. Then, his arm snapped forward, the sweat hardening into a long, sharp needle of ice. Rei's arm shot up, and she caught the needle between her fingers. "Nice try," she said between breaths, before breaking the needle in half. She rushed toward him- Jin began to create a wind drill in preparation. When she was in range, he shot forward and swung the wind drill at her- she slid under it, but not before the very tip caught the side of her face, making a long, shallow cut. Only now, with Rei right under him, did Jin realize how serious of a mistake he made- he had left himself wide open to a counterattack, and there was no possibility that he could defend himself. Rei must have realized this as well, because as soon as she was under him, she shot a fireball directly at his chest. Jin tried to jump back- there was no hope of avoiding the fireball completely, but at the very least, he could try to avoid being hit in such a sensitive area. The fireball hit Jin dead in his left shoulder; he cried out in pain, the scorched skin burning in the open air. He dropped down to one knee, trying to cradle his burn, but already preparing his next move. Rei began to advance slowly toward him; again, as subtly as he could, Jin extended the index finger of his right hand and began to focus all his energy there. Rei held up her arm, a flame igniting in her hand. She was only a few feet away; at that moment, Jin swung out his arm in a wide arc, creating a wind scythe. Instantly, a rock wall shot up from the ground, but the wind scythe cut straight through it. In the small gap that the wind scythe created, he watched as Rei's eyes and mouth widened in shock as the wind scythe formed a very long cut across her face.

A bloodcurdling scream sounded as the wall crumbled into dust. Jin quickly got to his feet; Rei's attention snapped toward him, eyes burning with pure hate, blood pouring down her face. "That's it," she growled, "I'm gonna end this right now." She took a familiar looking stance, and as fast as she could, began drawing a circle in the air, lines of electricity following her movements. Then, she thrust out her arm, a massive bolt of lightning emerging. It arced toward Jin, who was readying himself. Ignoring the pain, he shot out his left arm, taking in the bolt as he traced a line with his right hand down from the tip of his arm to his shoulder and down to his stomach. He could feel the raw power of Rei's lightning coursing within his body- just like the first time he used energybednding those many weeks ago, he felt as though any movement would cause the energy inside him to beak free and destroy him. For one brief instant, he considered firing the lightning right back at Rei, but dismissed the notion- instead, he shot his arm out to the right, and the bolt fired out over the city. In spite of himself, Jin said to Rei, "You're going to have to do better than that." He began focusing his own energy, electricity beginning to crackle in the palm of his hand. His arm lashed out, and a bolt of electricity whipped out at Rei. She was far too stunned to even try to avoid it.

The moment the bolt made contact, she let out a cry of pain, her entire body convulsing uncontrollably. In her stunned state, she staggered and tripped over her own feet, falling on her back. Immediately, the stone floor closed over her hands, pinning her down. Jin strode over to her, arm outstretched, preparing to charge another bolt of lightning; when he reached her, he glared down at her, arm outstretched. But something felt… _wrong_. His arm began to shake- he gripped it with his other hand, trying to steady his aim, but his trembling grew stronger, until his entire body began to shake.

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't kill Rei. In his mind, he screamed to fire at her, but his body simply refused to obey. He remained locked in that position, arm outstretched, his other arm gripping it. He was suddenly brought back to reality when Rei let out a short laugh. And another. And another. And each time, her laugh became a little longer, and a little louder. Eventually, it grew to a manic pitch that unnerved Jin greatly, before it abruptly stopped and she said, "I knew you couldn't do it." She kicked out her leg; a rock spire then shot out of the ground and hit Jin directly in the chest. The blow knocked him right off his feet and onto his back, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Rei broke out of her restraints, and before Jin could recover, pinned his arms and legs to the ground. "You want to know what the difference is between you and me?" she asked as she strode toward him. She immediately answered her own question, "You simply don't have what it takes to see things through to the end." Jin felt an earth column push against his back, pushing him up into a sitting position. "You know Jin, I was planning to keep you alive after this, but I've decided that it's more trouble than it's worth." She ran a hand over Jin's face; the act brought back many uncomfortable memories, and tried to pull away, in vain. Rei turned and began to walk away. "It's a shame. I had so much in store for you. I guess I'll have to make do with someone else." She stopped some distance away and turned back toward him. "I think I'll start with that earthbender. Let's see… first, I think I'll take her other eye. Then, I'll--"

Jin didn't hear anything after that point. White light began to pour from his eyes and the gaps in his prosthetic; seemingly without effort, he tore his way out of his restraints and was quickly on his feet again. But Jin was hardly aware of what he was doing. His mind was completely blank, save for one thought- the searing need to protect Toph. He could see Rei creating another bolt of lightning. He charged her, using a technique that, until that moment, had been not only unknown, but inconceivable- he moved so quickly that for a brief instant, he completely disappeared from Rei's sight. It didn't matter to him that his attack didn't use any bending. He would protect Toph if all he had left were his own two hands. He'd already let her be hurt once, and to him, that was already one time too many.

A pained gasp escaped from Rei's throat. Her vision was filled by Jin's face, eyes glowing, face twisted into immeasurable fury. The lightning bolt fired right past him, dissipating only a few feet away. A pain unlike any she had ever felt in her life coursed through her body, concentrating in her midsection. She looked down- Jin's prosthetic arm had buried itself deep into her stomach, blood trickling down from the wound onto the ground. Then, Jin tore his arm out, and blood began to leak from Rei, falling like rain. "You…" she growled at him between gasps of pain, "I'll… I'll show you!" She thrust out her arm, but rather than the jet of fire she expected, all that emerged were a few weak sparks. She tried to take a step forward, but her legs refused to obey, and she fell forward onto her face. She couldn't see, but there was another hole in her back, lined up directly with the one in her front. She got up on her elbows, and began to drag herself to where Jin stood. She only moved a few feet when her arms gave out- try as she might, she couldn't move. All she could do was lie, helpless, her breaths shallow and weak.

Then, for reasons that Jin would never be able to adequately explain to himself, he approached Rei, bent down on one knee, and cradled her in his arms. "…you're a fool," She said weakly to him. "Don't you know…? I could kill you at any moment." Jin didn't call her bluff; he knew she was dying. He had no way of knowing how long she had left, bit it couldn't be more than a few minutes. She coughed violently, blood splattering against Jin's face before she said, "If you're expecting me to repent… then you're wasting your time."

Jin responded to this by saying, "I don't."

"Then why are you still here?"

Jin was silent for several moments. "…I don't know." He fell silent again

Rei shivered. "It's… _cold_." Her voice was a whisper, and almost inaudible. Inexplicably, he pulled her close to his body, and began taking several deep breaths, feeling his body warm internally. Rei's shivers faded, and he heard her ask, "…why?" Again, Jin had no answers, no explanations, no possible way to justify why he was comforting an enemy in her dying moments. He almost knew for a fact that if their situations had been reversed, she would not be doing the same for him.

Suddenly, Rei grabbed Jin's hand and pulled it against her chest. "No… it's too soon… I'm not ready…" she breathed, her voice so faint he could barely hear her. Jin gripped her hand, and replied in a voice that wasn't quite his own, "We rarely are." Jin felt her breathing slow and weaken, her pulse fade gradually, until, all at once, her breathing hitched, and she clutched his hand as tightly as she could. Then, her body slackened. Her hand slipped out of his and fell against the ground. He continued to hold her for several moments; then, as gently as he could, Jin laid Rei against the ground. He looked down at her face for a moment, pondering the lines of tears around her half-closed eyes. Were they tears from the pain? Or were they from fear- the fear of dying, of the unknown? He would never know.

He bent down over the body. He felt as if he had to… say something- it didn't feel right to just leave her without paying some sort of last respect. His eyes glowed for a brief instant, and some words were imprinted in his head. They seemed… cliché, but still appropriate. He said to the body, "Do not be afraid of the darkness, but welcome its embrace." He brought his forefinger and thumb up to Rei's eyelids, and with a little assistance from waterbending, pulled them closed. "May you rest in peace… Rei."

He stood up. Rei might be dead now, but the battle wasn't over yet. There was still one last thing he had to take care of.

* * *

The water in the air hardened around Kohta, encasing him in armor of ice. He charged toward the man in front of him, creating a blade from his armor. He swung furiously at the man, but each time, he was able to evade. The man spotted an opening, and without hesitation, shot a rock spire at Kohta. The spire struck hard, knocking Kohta back and shattering his armor. The man turned, sending out an air swipe that knocked Nina on her back. From her downed position, she fired a stream of flame at the man, but he created a rock wall to block it. Then, Nina was thrown into the air by a column of earth, only to be slammed into the ground again by a spiraling pillar of air.

"I would certainly hope that the Avatar's mentors would be stronger than this!" Rao called. His forces had been able to force a path through the White Lotus's defenses, and now, they stood in a thoroughfare just inside the city. Then, he saw someone gliding straight toward him- the person repositioned themselves, and swung the glider, creating a massive air swipe. Rao easily avoided the attack, landing a few feet from where he had stood. The other landed several yards away. He recognized him right away- the Avatar. Even from his distance, Rao could see blood splattered against the Avatar's face and arm. He knew what it meant.

His daughter, in spite of her strength, had fallen.

He took a deep breath; there would be a time to mourn, but now was not that time. Sorrow welled inside him, but seeing this boy, this boy who had taken his daughter away from him, caused the sorrow to ignite into hatred. "Avatar," he said, his voice more calm than he felt. "I was hoping you would show up."

"Give up, Rao," the Avatar said. "Rei's dead. You don't have any chance of winning."

"Your army is on the run. My forces stand at the cusp of taking this city. I've come too far to turn back." He could see the Avatar lower himself into a bending stance- firebending, specifically. "I'll give you one last chance. Surrender now and I won't have to hurt you."

Rao widened his base, and dropped into an earthbending stance. "Do your worst."


	35. Chapter XXXV: Endgame

Chapter XXXV: Endgame

Two columns of fire shot from Jin's hands, arcing towards Rao. Calmly, he formed a rock sphere, which the two columns slammed into. They failed to break through. Then, the front of the sphere exploded into thousands of small rocks aimed toward Jin. He punched his fists against each other, a sphere of air surrounding him, deflecting the stones. Suddenly, Jin saw the other half of the sphere hurtling toward him; he rooted himself, holding his arms up in front of him. Just as the projectile was about to make contact, he crossed his arms in front of him; the rock literally exploded around him, and he emerged from the dust unharmed. But Rao was already making his next move. He launched several fireballs; Jin diverted each one, but didn't notice that Rao had been able to close the distance between them. He swung his arm at Jin, flames lighted in each hand; Jin ducked, and attempted to launch a fireball at Rao. He dodged, jumping high into the air before sending down a jet of fire. The flame was extinguished by an air swipe from Jin, with several stones following. Rao quickly created a shield of wind that deflected the stones; he landed, only to be immediately met by a rock spire. He rooted himself as best he could, and blocked the spire with his arm.

Jin glanced around quickly, spotting a trough a few feet away. As fast as he could, he pulled the water inside toward him, before whipping it out at Rao. He shot a fireball that evaporated some of it, but enough got through to make a large scratch in his armor. As Jin pulled the water back to his side, he noticed something rather odd- where Rei had used all four elements, Rao seemed to be restricting himself to earth, fire, and air. There was a water trough sitting only a few feet away, but Rao wasn't trying to use it to his advantage. Then, he had a rather sudden realization- Rao couldn't waterbend. With this thought, Jin guided the water up from the trough before throwing it at Rao. Caught off guard, the stream knocked him off his feet. Quickly, Jin tossed the water at his side at Rao as well, freezing in into several long, sharp shards. Rao's hand shot out, creating a jet of fire that melted the shards and continued toward Jin. Jin created an air shield with several wide swings of his arm, diverting the flames, but it did nothing to stop the rock spire that had been hidden behind the flames. It hit directly in the chest, sending Jin flying; he was thrown into the side of a building alongside the road, impacting it hard and causing the wall to collapse down on him.

Rao began to approach slowly. "The Avatar Spirits were fools to choose a weakling like you!" he called to the pile of rubble. "You don't deserve to exist in this world- in my world!" He stopped in front of the pile, and raised his arms, coating them in fire. "You're an imperfection that I will erase from this world! Prepare to--"

He never finished. At that exact moment, something impacted Rao in the abdomen, knocking him straight into the building across the road. He staggered away from the wall, dazed, and looked at his attacker; it was Jin, arm outstretched, eyes and arms glowing white. He remained motionless. Rao recovered his senses and launched a fireball at Jin; Jin didn't react until the fireball was just about to hit him, at which point, he seemed to disappear. A fraction of a second later, Jin reappeared a few feet to the right of where he had stood, arms at his sides. Rao fired another fireball- as before, just as it was about to hit, Jin disappeared and reappeared, this time, a few feet to the left. Then, very slowly, Jin began to walk forward. Rao began to throw everything he could think of- fireballs, rock spires, air swipes, jets of flame, wind vortexes, stone blocks… but every time it seemed that the attack would connect, Jin would simply blink out of existence and reappear a few feet away, continuing his advance. Soon, he was only a few feet away. In desperation, just as Jin appeared right before him, Rao grabbed the Mach Pistol at his belt, pointed it at Jin's face, and pulled the trigger.

Jin caught Rao's arm in his left hand, forcing the barrel away from his face- in spite of his speed, the bullet still grazed him, leaving a long gash under his right eye. Then, Jin's right arm shot out, slamming into Rao's elbow and forcing it the other way with a loud, sickening pop; Rao let out a long, anguished cry from the pain. He collapsed to his knees, the gun falling from his hand. Jin quickly caught it, and with one hand on the barrel and the other on the handle, twisted as hard as he could manage; the gun snapped, its delicate internal mechanisms falling to the ground before Jin tossed the two pieces away. Then, he began to walk slowly toward Rao. Rao's arm shot out, firing several rock spires; as soon as they impacted Jin, he got to his feet, and ignited a jet of flame at his feet, flying into the air. Rao no longer considered fighting the Avatar- with a broken arm, he would never stand a chance. The best he could hope for was to escape with his life. But suddenly, something wrapped around his leg; he looked down to see a stream of water gripping his ankle, the Avatar holding the other end. Rao added more thrust to his rocket boost, but the Avatar's grip wouldn't loosen. Then, Jin pulled, pulling Rao in a wide arc before viciously slamming him into the ground. Before Rao could get to his feet, Jin took a step, blinking out of existence and reappearing right in front of Rao- from the gust of wind that followed, Rao guessed that Jin was using some sort of airbending technique, but one he'd never seen before. Then, Jin stomped down on Rao's leg, directly on the knee. There was a sickening snap, and Rao cried out again, pain coursing through his leg. But Jin didn't let up, keeping all of his weight right on Rao's leg. Rao had a sudden, horrible realization.

He was pinned. And he was completely at the Avatar's mercy.

Jin pointed at Rao, his fingertips crackling with electricity. After a few moments, the energy spread all the way up his arm, glowing an intense blue and filling the air with an energy that made Rao's hair stand on end. Then, Jin growled down at him, "_**It's time to finish this.**_" His voice… it was as if hundreds of voices had spoken all at once. With one last glare, Jin fired.

_No!_

There was a blinding flash, and a deafening crash of thunder. Jin gritted his teeth. His arm no longer pointed at Rao, but to a smoldering hole in the ground a few feet to the right. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked Aang, glow fading from his eyes and arm.

"Look around you!" Aang replied angrily- the ferocity in his voice surprised Jin. "The Avatar is supposed to a pillar that upholds peace and balance in the world! _What sort of example do you think you'd be setting if you killed Rao in front of all these people!?_" Jin looked around for the first time- seemingly, hundreds of people looked down at him and Rao, not just soldiers of the Order and the White Lotus, but non-benders as well. It seemed that no matter where he looked, eyes stared back at him intently.

"But… Rao… we can end this, right here, right now!"

"No, Jin! You can't end all this violence with _another_ act of violence! You'll only allow the cycle to repeat itself all over again!"

"Then… how…?

"You have a way. Remember what I have taught you." Aang's voice fell silent. Jin understood what he had to do. He looked down; Rao was slowly crawling away, making one last attempt to escape. He clenched his hand into a fist, the earth closing around Rao's hands and feet. As Rei had done with him, he pushed Rao up into a sitting position, and circled to his front. He stared down at Rao for several moments, trying to figure out what to do- then, his eyes began to glow, and the Avatar Spirits guided his hands to Rao's forehead and chest. His hands in position, Jin could feel the Avatar Spirits guide his energy down his arm, and into Rao's body.

* * *

Suddenly, Jin found himself in an endless void. He stood on a floating platform of stone, only one of many that seemed to form the only ground in the void. The "sky" of the void was an eerie mixture of numerous colors, primarily blue. From time to time, waves of color would swirl and ripple across the surrounding space, brightening everything for a few brief moments. Although there was no sun, everything seemed to be illuminated in an ethereal blue light. Jin guessed that somehow, he was inside Rao's mind. Then, he looked over to see Rao across from him. He seemed to be just as surprised to see the inside of his own head as Jin. He was distracted, making the perfect opportunity to make the first move. He began drawing his energy out- unlike in the Spirit World, it took several moments before his energy left his body. He drew out several strands, merged them together, and lashed them out at Rao. He noticed Jin's attack, at brought his arms up to defend himself; almost as soon as it happened, a nearby wave flew toward him and formed itself into a massive shield, defending Rao from Jin's attack. Almost immediately, Rao sent out a whip of his own, much more massive than Jin's. Jin dodged the attack- he wouldn't have been able to create a shield in time. Then, he began trying to draw Rao's energy toward him. Rao quickly withdrew his attack, but not before Jin was able to pull off a few pieces of his energy whip.

Jin again began to draw out his energy- he summoned it with all the strength he could muster, but even then, it still took several seconds. Wisps of energy swirled around him like mist, before he lashed out with another whip. As before, a massive shield formed to block it, before drawing back and whipping out at Jin. The attack left Rao wide open, so Jin hardened a strand of energy before shattering it, firing dozens of tiny fragments directly at Rao. They made contact, but rather than making a wound, they seemed to simply disappear into Rao's body. But it still had an effect- Rao's body blurred and distorted for a moment before reforming, and the sky briefly flashed an angry red. His body reformed, but it still possessed a very slight blur along the edge. For one brief instant, he lost control over his energy; seizing the opportunity, Jin focused and pulled all the energy Rao had gathered over to him. Swathed by the misty energies, Jin charged. He spread the energy into a shield, blocking the numerous projectiles that Rao fired at him. Finally, when he was close, Jin lashed out several whips from his energy shield; Rao created his own energy shield in response, defending himself from the blows. Then, Rao took in another wave, and launched what seemed to be a spire directly at Jin. It broke through Jin's shield, dissolving it into a cloud of mist that quickly dissipated, before hitting Jin directly in the chest.

The blow knocked Jin right off his feet and onto his back. He struggled to his feet- the pain wasn't focused just in his chest, but seemed to spread throughout his entire body. As he struggled to his feet, he glanced down at his hands- his skin seemed to flicker, allowing him to see a skeleton and numerous blue trails underneath. He pondered what they were briefly; they couldn't be nerves or blood vessels- there were far too many. Finally, the pain subsided, and his skin stopped flickering. He got to his feet, again summoning all the energy he could muster. A few narrow strands emerged from his body. But it wouldn't be enough to protect him from Rao's next attack. All Jin could do was avoid Rao's energy bursts as he continued to summon his own energy. He fired back a few small bursts of his own, but Rao easily deflected them with his energy shield. He was just about to lash out another energy whip when Rao struck him with his own. Again, Jin was knocked on his back, his body becoming completely transparent.

"It seems I underestimated you," Rao said, enshrouded by white mist- his voice seemed to come from the surrounding void, rather than Rao himself. "You were even able to get the upper hand against me for a few moments." The mist began to rapidly expand around Jin. "But it ends here. Your past lives won't be able to help you now." In desperation, Jin reached out to whatever energies he could control and swung his arms down in front of him.

Rao let out a horrid shriek. Jin looked up to see Rao pierced by numerous spikes of pure energy- the sky pulsed the same angry red that it had before. He staggered back, his form flickering wildly, the spikes still lodged in his body. His body disappeared completely, replaced by a large network of those strange blue trails. Concentrated in his stomach was a large glowing sphere, but something there caught Jin's attention- it was another, smaller sphere that glowed pure white. Circling the sphere were three colored trails: one green, one red, and one yellow. Suddenly, everything made sense- those blue lines… they were chi paths. And the sphere… Jin understood what he had to do. Rao staggered away, and began rapidly throwing out wide arcs of energy in all directions. Jin began to make his approach, dodging any arcs that came close. Eventually though, Jin could no longer approach- Rao's attacks became too desperate, too wild for Jin to approach without being harmed. Suddenly, Jin had an idea. He drew in as much ambient energy as he could, before forming a shield to defend against Rao's assault. Every few moments, an arc would strike the shield, and Jin would absorb it into the shield. Finally, when Jin felt the shield had absorbed enough energy, he shattered it, sending thousands of tiny shards directly at Rao. The barrage stopped as Rao let out another pained cry; now was his chance. Jin rushed toward the stunned Rao, rapidly closing the distance between them. He reached for the white sphere, but his hand was suddenly deflected by some… barrier. Rao threw another desperate attack, but Jin dodged it with some difficulty. Again, Jin began drawing in energy, coating his hand in it; and again, he thrust his hand out, trying to grab that sphere. This time, his hand broke through whatever barrier had stopped it before, and his hand clenched around the sphere. Sphere in hand, Jin began to pull as hard as he could. In response, Rao tried to push Jin away, but it was a fight he was rapidly losing- Jin could feel the sphere slowly move toward him, and the lines of chi inside Rao dimmed, slowly but surely. Then Jin gave one last tug, pulling with all his might. Mercifully, the sphere suddenly ripped out of Rao, and the two were consumed in a blinding white light.

* * *

The sky was suddenly lit up as three blinding bolts of lightning streaked into the clouds: one green, one red, and one yellow. Jin's hands fell away from Rao, and he staggered back a few steps, hunched over, trying to catch his breath. Eventually, he held up his fist and unclenched it, releasing Rao from his bonds. Rao staggered to his feet, trying to make one last attack, but suddenly, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. He glared up at Jin and asked between heavy breaths, "What… what did you do?" Jin stood upright and replied, "I took your bending away. You'll never be able to use it to hurt anyone else." Rao made one last attempt to push himself of the ground, but his arms refused to support his weight, and he remained where he had fallen.

Suddenly, Jin was pelted by stones and other rubbish. Numerous insults and catcalls were hurled at him and the downed Rao. In mere seconds, he was surrounded by a handful of guards, all pointing their spears directly at him. Suddenly, amid the insults and the stones that pelted him, something inside Jin… snapped. He thrust out his arm, and a massive crack tore across the ground, snaking up buildings and eventually, the great wall itself. "I come here," he said, his voice low at first but gradually rising in intensity. "I come here, to Ba Sing Se, I fight the Order, I _defeat their commander, I save your city, and __**this is the thanks I get!?**_" Another crack snaked its way across the ground, as small flames began to flicker in the air around Jin; in response, the guards jabbed their spears threateningly in Jin's direction. "Oh, you're really going to stab the _Avatar_?" he asked. "I'd love to se you try." One drew back his spear as though he was going to strike; at once, Jin's hand flew up, surrounded by fire.

All action ceased, however, when a voice called out, "That's enough!" Jin looked over to the source; coming through the crowd, Jin could see a small, but extremely well-dressed man approach. One of the guards turned to him and said, "My Lord, please stand back. This bender is very dangerous and we haven't restrained him yet."

"I'm sure that this bender would be willing to cooperate with us if he didn't have a dozen spears being waved in front of his face. Now please, step aside- I wish to speak with him."

"But my Lord--"

"I hope you realize that by refusing to carry out a direct request from your king, I can have you arrested for treason. Now _stand down_." Begrudgingly, the guard backed down, and allowed the man to pass by. The man then stepped in front of Jin and said, "I must apologize for that. But now, if you don't mind me asking son, who are you, and what brought you here to my city?"

Jin paused for a moment before replying, "My name is Jin. And… I'm the Avatar. I came here because an organization called the Order tried to capture your city so they, um…" Jin scratched his head.

"Perhaps your superiors would be able to better explain this. Please, take me to them." At this, the guard asked hesitantly, "My Lord? I don't think it would be safe for you to travel with the… _Avatar _alone." The man sighed. "Alright, you may escort us to… do you have an encampment?" he asked, turning toward Jin. He nodded. "Alright, then you may escort us to the Avatar's camp." Jin began to walk toward the gate with the man at his side, the guards following them. As he approached, the few Order soldiers that remained panicked, fleeing out the gate, the remaining White Lotus soldiers pursuing them. "Those soldiers… are they under your command?" the man asked.

"No. The Grand Masters of the White Lotus are in charge of them."

"White Lotus?"

"We have a lot of explaining to do, your highness."

"You can call me King Zhi. Or simply Zhi- whichever you would prefer." At that time, Jin noticed Kohta limping over to the two, Nina supporting his weight- the guards moved to stop them, but Jin said, "It's okay; they're friends of mine." When they were close, Nina said to him, "Jin, I've never seen anything like that before. Did _you_ do that?"

Jin shrugged, staggering slightly. "Yeah, I… I guess I did."

Jin's stumble wasn't lost on Kohta, who asked, "Are you feeling alright Jin? You certainly have seen better days."

"Yeah yeah, I'm just fff… juss fffff…" Jin wanted to finish his sentence by saying "fine," but he just couldn't. Jin severely underestimated how exhausted he really was; the two previous battles had provided plenty of adrenaline to keep him going, but now the adrenaline high had worn off, rapidly stripping away what little strength he had left. He teetered again, his vision dimming to near black. He felt himself pitch forward; the last thing he heard before exhaustion over came him was Nina call out, "Uh-oh, somebody catch him before he--" _Thump_. "…too late."


	36. Chapter XXXVI: Reconciliation

Chapter XXXVI: Reconciliation

Jin let out a pained groan as he came to. His head throbbed violently, as if someone were driving nails into his temples. He sat up, massaging the sides of his head with his head as he tried to figure out what happened. He wasn't in thee streets of Ba Sing Se anymore, but some sort of small room- he identified it as an earth tent. He was brought out of his thoughts when a voice said to him, "You're awake." He looked over at the source- it was Toph, sitting in a corner of the earth tent. She seemed to be okay- there were a few tears in her clothes, and she had a few new cuts and bruises, but she didn't seem any worse off that when he had left to fight Rei. "So, you feel any better?"

"My head is killing me."

"That's no surprise. Nina told me you fell pretty hard when you passed out."

"Speaking of Nina, where is everyone? And where are we, anyway?"

"We're back at the camp. After we brought you back here, that king said he was going to negotiate a treaty with the Grand Masters- Kohta went with them. That was a few hours ago. Yu and Nina are around, somewhere." Toph paused for a moment before saying, "You look awful." Of course, Jin couldn't see, but he certainly did feel awful. So he asked, "Do you have any water?" Toph nodded before handing Jin a skin of water. He pulled the water out and hardened it into a mirror. He looked just as awful as he felt- the cut under his eye was still there, and his jaw had swollen where Rei had punched him.

_Rei…_

Jin then looked down at his right arm; nobody had thought to take it off before putting him in his sleeping bag. It was covered up to the elbow by some dark red substance. Jin knew what it was- blood. _Her_ blood. A wave of nausea washed over him, and as quickly as he could, climbed out of his sleeping bag and ran out of the tent before Toph could stop him. He didn't get very far before falling to his hands and knees and vomiting on the ground. He caught another glimpse of his arm, and suppressed another wave of nausea before unplugging his arm and tossing it away.

The gravity of what he had done was starting to sink in.

He killed Rei. He killed her without hesitating in the slightest. He might have been in the Avatar State when he delivered the final blow, but that only made everything worse- he might not have been in control of his actions, but there was nothing to prevent him from seeing everything that happened. The worst part, though, was how she just hung limp in his arms, without any trace of the fury or strength from the battle mere minutes before. And what had he done? Nothing- he simply watched as she died a slow, painful death

He felt Toph approach through her vibrations in the ground, and heard her ask, "Jin, is everything okay?" He didn't respond. She walked over to his arm and picked it up. "You should take better care of this, you know. If you--" She stopped all at once when she noticed the substance coating the lower half of the prosthetic. "Jin? Is this… blood?" She knelt down next to him, and held the prosthetic out in front of him, but he wouldn't look at it. "Well… is it?" He nodded.

Toph went into a panic. "Jin, if you're really hurt we need to find someone who can heal you! You could bleed out and--"

"…it's not my blood."

For a moment, Toph thought she hadn't heard him correctly. "What?"

"I said, it's not my blood." His voice wavered.

"Then, whose blood is it then?"

Jin's response was almost inaudible. "…it's Rei's." He glanced over at her- she stared at him with a nonplussed expression on her face. "Nobody told you?"

"Told me what?"

"I… Rei… she's dead."

"What? How?"

"I killed her. Rei's dead, because of me. Because… of… me…" He fell silent, his entire body shaking. A few moments passed before Toph asked hesitantly, "Jin?" His only reply was a shuddering gasp. She draped her arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Come on, Jin. Let's go back in the tent." Toph guided Jin back to her earth tent with difficulty- Jin refused to cooperate in spite of her promptings, and she had to half-drag him back to the tent. All the while, he made those odd, shuddering gasps. Finally, they reached the inside of the tent, Toph closing the tent behind them; as soon as the two were alone, Jin wrapped his arms around Toph and sobbed into her shoulder. At first she was too stunned to react- after a few moments, she regained her composure and hugged Jin back, whispering in his ear, "It's okay, everything's gonna be okay Jin…"

He said back through his sobs, "No, it's not okay! You don't understand! What have I done!?"

"Jin…"

"I watched her die, Toph! And I didn't do a thing to help her! Now she's dead! Rei's dead and it's all my fault! All… my… fault…" he degenerated into another series of incomprehensible sobs. She continued to hold him, at a complete loss for words as her shirt began to soak through with Jin's tears. His sobs softened gradually, until he finally fell silent. Then, he pushed Toph away. "I'm sorry," he said, "But there's something I have to do."

"Jin--" But he simply pushed past her and opened the earth tent. "Toph…" he began, before taking a deep breath. "This is something I have to do on my own. Just… let me do this. It wouldn't… be right if I don't." Without another word, he left the earth tent. Toph, of course, had no intention of letting Jin go off anywhere by himself- in spite of his best efforts to hide it, he still hadn't recovered fully from his fights with Rei and Rao. She watched his vibrations through the ground. Once he was far enough away, she began to follow. She followed him as he made his way out of the camp and around the outer wall of the city. Jin's progress was slow, and he stumbled every once in a while over his own feet. He walked north alongside the wall for some time, with Toph following, until he finally came to a stop. Toph closed the distance, creating a small wall of rocks for cover when she was close. She peered out from behind the rocks, watching Jin.

He stood for a few moments, apparently lost in thought. He looked out over the distance to the west, and Toph followed his gaze. Something rose up from the ground some distance away- Toph couldn't identify it, but apparently Jin did, because at that moment, he turned into a blur that streaked toward the mound. After a few moments, Jin returned, dropping several large plates of metal before dropping to his knees, gasping for breath. Toph figured out what that mound must have been- the Mobile Fortress, that Jin had singlehandedly brought out of the sky. Eventually, he was upright again, and he set to work. Toph watched as he took the metal plates and pounded them together into a box. What struck Toph the most was the ease with which he did it; he'd struggled in the past, but now it seemed he'd somehow mastered metalbending. She had no way of knowing that after Jin had literally torn three entire decks off the Mobile Fortress, Aang himself implanted the knowledge of the technique directly in Jin's head.

Jin set down the box, looking over it briefly; he'd left one side open, with another metal plate lying nearby. Apparently satisfied, he then turned to the wall and, to Toph's amazement, began to literally sprint up its face. He disappeared over the top for several moments, before jumping down from the wall. He floated down slowly, using the air to slow his fall. He landed softly- it was only when he landed that Toph noticed he was holding something in his arms. He laid it down on the ground for a moment, allowing Toph to see what it was- a body.

Rei's body.

Jin picked up Rei's body again- Toph noticed there was now a large spot of blood on the ground where she had been. Then, as carefully as he could, he lowered Rei's body into the box, before picking up the last metal plate and laying it on top of the box. Then, he twisted the edges of the box and the plate together. Jin stepped back, and raised a section of the ground up before closing it around the box, encasing it in a sarcophagus of stone. To finish, he bent down to the bottom edge of the sarcophagus and painstakingly carved a character into the stone with his finger… "Rei." Then, he sat down, crossed his legs, and fell still. Toph decided then to approach. He must have been aware of her, because Jin then said out loud, "I thought I told you not to follow me."

"Jin… I know you're the Avatar, but… but that doesn't mean you always have to handle everything alone. We're here for you- me, and Nina, and Yu, and Kohta. We'll always be here when you need us."

"I know Toph. Believe me, I know. But, what happened… what I did to Rei…" He sighed. "You weren't there. You didn't see what I did. I know you want to help, but… I think this is just something I have to deal with alone." He paused. "I'm sorry, but I need to be alone for a while." He fell silent again. For a moment, Toph was about to say something but decided against it, before leaving Jin alone in his meditations.

* * *

"Okay, I have done what I can," Kohta said as he lifted his hand from Jin's face. Jin had returned to the camp some time later to come across Kohta, who insisted on healing his injuries. "You should have come to me sooner, though. I might have been able to do more for you." Jin brought his left hand up to his cheekbone; although he was healed, Jin could still feel a groove in his skin where the bullet from Rao's pistol had grazed him. Kohta had already healed the burn on Jin's shoulder to the best of his abilities, wrapping in bandages what wouldn't heal.

"Thanks Kohta," Jin said. "But what about you? Are you okay?"

"I am unharmed." He lightly touched a spot in the center of his chest, wincing slightly from the pain. "Well, _mostly_ unharmed."

"So how are the negotiations going?"

"They are going well, but you do not need to concern yourself with that."

"Don't need to concern myself? Are you kidding? I thought being the Avatar meant I had to be involved with things like this as a mediator, or something like that."

"Well, if that is how you feel, then I suppose that you could come to the palace with me. Negotiations have been suspended for today, but they will resume tomorrow."

"I'm not going to have to make a speech or anything like that, right?"

"That is entirely up to you to decide."

"Okay. Oh, and Kohta? Why are there so many guards posted around the camp?"

Kohta thought for a moment. "King Zhi believes it is the best course of action to ensure the safety of the White Lotus forces. The guards should be removed once negotiations are concluded."

The next day came. In the morning, a group of guards came to escort him and Kohta to the palace. As they walked through the streets on their way to the train station, the procession drew all kinds of attention- he could overhear snatches of conversation as they passed by:

"…is that one the Avatar?"

"…it's the one on the right, with the prosthetic arm."

"…he's the Avatar? But he's so young."

"…don't care what they did; I don't like having an army of benders waiting right outside the gate."

"…I wonder if the King's gonna explain what happened on New Year's…"

After a short ride, they finally arrived at the palace. The guards led Jin and Kohta through numerous winding corridors, until they finally reached a large room with a massive table in the center- on the table was a map, depicting the seventeen nations of the world. Gathered around the table were the Grand Masters of the Order of the White Lotus- King Zhi himself sat at the head of the table. "You've arrived, Mr. Kohta," Zhi said. "And I see you've brought the Avatar with you as well. Well, once you take your seats, we may begin negotiations." Kohta and Jin took their seats at the end furthest from Zhi- Kohta sat to the left of one of the Grand Masters- Qiang, was it?- while Jin sat next to him at the very end of the table.

"Now that everyone has arrived, we can resume negotiations. Master Shengxian, I do believe you were emphasizing your concerns about this treaty before we concluded negotiations yesterday. If you would, please restate them so that everyone is up to speed…"

The negotiations went on for what felt like hours. One of the Grand Masters would bring up a point; they, Zhi, and the other Grand Masters would debate about it, and eventually come to an agreement before repeating the process all over again. Jin was silent throughout the entire proceeding; Kohta would occasionally throw in his own ideas but otherwise remained silent as well. Jin should have taken Kohta's word when he said everything was going well- things seemed to be moving smoothly without his intervention, and in truth it was just so boring- he yawned, straining to keep his eyes open. He was sure that… nobody would notice if… he closed his eyes… for… a few… minutes…

"Jin. _Jin_." Jin snapped upright upon hearing his name. He asked, still slightly disoriented, "What? What happened?"

"The negotiations are over for today," Kohta replied. "Everybody is leaving."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I guess I dozed off." He paused briefly before adding, "I guess you were right."

"About what?"

"That I didn't need to worry about this. It looks like you're handling it pretty well."

"Indeed. In fact, we have nearly finished with negotiations. After we make a few more finishing touches tomorrow, King Zhi will be ready to present the treaty to his officials. He has already sent out letters asking them to come to Ba Sing Se, so they should be arriving in a few days."

"Officials?"

"Yes- local governors, influential noble families… even a few foreign dignitaries will be coming here from all over the nation."

"Will we be going?"

"Of course. You are the Avatar, and the world should be able to meet him and his allies." Kohta shook his head. "But that's in a few days. You should rest while you can in the meantime. We can handle the rest of the negotiations."

* * *

The day passed. Jin Toph, Nina, and Yu were resting in the White Lotus camp outside the city- Kohta had left with the other Grand Masters early that morning to finish negotiations with King Zhi. Jin was trying to explain everything he remembered to the others when a guard approached. "I don't mean to intrude," he said, "but a messenger hawk has just arrived with two letters." He pulled two letters from his pocket. "The first is to one 'Grand Master Shengxian.'"

"Master Shengxian is in a meeting with King Zhi," Jin replied.

"I see. The second letter is addressed to one 'Yu.'"

Yu looked up. "I'm Yu." He stood up, and with an airbending technique, pulled the letter from the guard's hand. The guard jumped slightly from surprise, looking down at his hand as though to ensure it was still attached. The guard recovered quickly, and bowed slightly before continuing on his way. Yu sat down and opened his letter- he read in silence for several moments before his eyes widened in shock. "I don't believe it…" he muttered.

"Don't believe what?" Nina asked, looking over his shoulder to try to get a better view of the letter.

"It's… from Master Tenzin. He says he's okay! And that he and a few White Lotus moles were able to drive the Order out of their fortress!"

"Really!? That's great!" Toph said excitedly, looking over Yu's shoulder as well.

"He says that the White Lotus moles are holding the fortress, and that he's on his way to Ba Sing Se!"

At this time, another guard (or possibly the same guard- nobody could be sure) approached them. "Excuse me, is the Avatar here?" he asked hesitantly. Jin replied, "I'm the Avatar. What do you need?"

"Avatar, there's someone who wishes to see you. For security reasons, I had them wait at the edge of the camp."

"Someone wants to see me?" Jin stood up. "Okay, I guess I'll go see them." The guard escorted Jin to the edge of the camp, to this mysterious visitor who wanted to see him. After a few minutes, he came to the edge of the camp, and saw his visitor. It was a woman, one slightly taller than he was, with such familiar features- so familiar, in fact, that they could belong only to one person. But it was just so… surreal to see her, here and now. He asked unsurely, almost certain his eyes were deceiving him, "…Mom? Is that really you?"

The answer was immediate, and purged any doubts from his mind: "Yes, Jin." For a moment, Jin was too stunned to react. Then, his mind returned to the promise his mother had made to him those many months ago- a wide smile cracked across his face and he threw his arms around his mother. "Mom, it really is you! I'm so glad to see you!" He pulled away so he could look at her. "But how did you get here so soon? I thought it would take another week before you got here."

"I left home the week before New Year's. I wanted to get here as soon as I could."

"I almost forgot that you were coming. But this is great! You can finally meet my friends! Come on!" He took his mother's hand and brought her into the camp, half-pulling her, completely oblivious to the protests of his escort. Eventually, he came back to his friends. He said excitedly to them, "Guys, you're not going to believe what happened!"

"What?" Yu asked. "And who's that?"

"This is someone I've wanted to introduce to you for a while now. Guys, this is my mom. Mom, these are my bending teachers." He pointed to each on of his friends in sequence. "This is Nina, my firebending teacher… he's Yu, my airbending teacher, and she's Toph, by earthbending teacher."

Lin bowed to Jin's friends and said, "It's very nice to finally meet all of you." She looked back at her son. "I thought the Avatar knew four elements. Don't you have a waterbending teacher?"

"I do, but he's not here right now. I'll introduce you to Kohta when he gets back." Something just occurred to Jin at that moment. "Toph, I just remembered, I haven't seen your mom since the invasion. Is she doing okay?"

"She's doing okay. I mean, the healers are still trying to fix her, but they say she'll be fine."

"Can we go see her?"

"Sure, I think the healers will let us. Come on." She stood up, and began to head off into the camp. Jin and his mother followed. Eventually, they came to a large tent; Toph went in first, followed by Jin and his mother. The inside of the tent was filled with numerous cots, nearly all occupied. A few people moved back and forth amongst the beds- doctors, apparently. Toph approached one and spoke to him in a voice neither Jin nor Lin could hear. After a few moments, she signaled for them to follow, and they all came to a bed near the rear of the tent. Laying in it was Toph's mother; from what Jin could see, everything below her neck was wrapped in bandages. "Toph," she said. "You came to visit again."

Toph nodded. "Yeah. But there's someone else who wants to see you." She motioned to Jin. It was several moments before Jin said, "Well, it's just that I haven't seen you since you were hurt during the invasion. So… how are you feeling?"

"I've felt better. But the healers say I should be on my feet again soon." She noticed Lin. "I see you have a guest."

Lin was able to respond faster than her son. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm Lin. I'm Jin's mother."

"I'm Toph. Toph Bei Fong. I see that you've already met my daughter. So, you're the Avatar's mother. If I may say so, you have a fine son. If it wasn't for him, I doubt that I'd be alive right now."

Lin circled around Miss Bei Fong's bed and sat down on a nearby, empty cot. "Well, it's flattering to hear someone think so highly of my son. But, if you don't mind, I noticed that you and your daughter share a name. Why is that?"

"It's a tradition of the Bei Fong family. It started when the first Toph, who traveled with Avatar Aang…" Jin glanced over at Toph, who looked back and gave him a small nod. Then, the two left their mothers alone to get to know each other better.

* * *

Another day passed. Early that morning, Toph left the camp and walked north along the wall. Eventually, she arrived at Rei's tomb. In front of it, as she expected, was Jin. His mood had improved after he built Rei's sarcophagus but even then, every day, at any time he could spare, he would come to meditate in front of the sarcophagus for about an hour. She stood behind him in silence for several minutes, until she finally said, "Jin, we need to talk." He didn't answer. "Look, about what happened four days ago… I know I wasn't there. I didn't see what happened. But, wheat happened… you have to let go of it. Sitting out here every day isn't going to bring her back. I mean, if it was you who got killed, and she survived, do you think she'd be sitting out here right now like you?"

Finally, Jin answered. "It was just so… _easy_," he said. "When it happened, I didn't even have to think about it. I don't know if you heard, but… I almost did the same thing to Rao. If Aang hadn't stopped me, I would've killed him… right in front of all those people…"

"I… I didn't know about that."

Jin paused for several long moments before asking, "Toph, can I tell you something? Something personal?"

"Of course."

"Now, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"…Okay, I promise."

"The thing is, about Rao… I wanted to do it. I really, _really_ wanted to. And I would have, too, if it hadn't been for Aang."

"…Jin, I know you're… nobody should have to do what you did. I mean, you're only… um…"

"Twelve. I appreciate your help, I really do, but… what I did… that's not how an Avatar is supposed to do things. Imagine if Aang had gone around killing anyone he didn't like. That's just… it can't be that way."

"Jin…"

"I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just sort of did it. Toph, what if… what if I'm becoming like Rei?"

Toph bent down and embraced Jin from behind. "Jin," she said, "I know you. You're not like Rei, and you never will be. I mean… you actually feel bad about what you did- if it were the other way around, I don't think Rei would feel the same way as you. I know you might not think so right now, but you'll get past this." She paused for a moment. "Do you know what you are?"

"Yeah. I'm the Avatar."

"Well, that _is_ true… but I want you to think more basically."

Jin thought for several moments until the answer came to him. "Is it that I'm an earthbender?"

"Exactly. You're the Avatar, and that means you're a waterbender, an airbender, a firebender… and an earthbender. Thing like this pass eventually- they always do. You just need to remember what I taught you, and be steady and strong until then."

"Thanks Toph." In spite of himself, Jin earnestly did feel better.

"Oh, and one more thing- Kohta wanted me to give you this." Jin felt something being pressed into his hands- he stood up and held it out in front of him to get a better look at it. It was a coat, much like the he had before, but with several differences: it was an almost pure white, and lacked the high collar his old coat had possessed. And he saw that on the back was a diamond with a single horizontal line drawn within- the character for "one." He looked over it until Toph finally asked, "Well, aren't you going to try it on?" Jin put on the coat, surprised by how well it fit him. "Wow, this is really nice," he said. "Where did Kohta get this?"

"He didn't say."

"Oh. Well, do you know why he got it?"

"He said something about presenting a treaty or something like that. He said if I told you that, you'd understand."

"Oh… _oh!_ Wait, they're presenting the treaty already?"

"I guess so. Kohta said all of us we're going to the palace this evening, even our moms, so he got all of us some nice clothes. He also said a lot of important people were going to be there."

"So, this evening?"

"That's what Kohta said."

"Okay then. I guess we should get back to the camp."

* * *

"Ugh. I swear if I have to shake one more person's hand, my arm will fall off." Jin said. Nina replied, "I wouldn't say that too loud if I were you." The two were in King Zhi's palace, along with the others. They were in a meeting room on the upper level of the palace, the same room where the king and the Grand Masters had negotiated the treaty. Zhi was now presenting this treaty to the numerous guests which had arrived. When Jin had first arrived with Kohta, the King was the first to shake his hand. Then, one of the many noble in the nation of Ba Sing Se had come to introduce himself, followed by another noble, and a foreign dignitary, and what Jin thought was a general for the country's army- at this point, all the people who came over began to blur together. Now, whenever someone came over to introduce themselves, his response was automatic; he held out his right hand, and after the person took it after a moment of hesitation- everyone hesitated for a moment before doing so- he said to them, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Jin. I'm the Avatar."

Jin's mind, of course, was elsewhere. Once this person had left, he turned to Nina and asked, "Nina, have you seen Toph around anywhere?"

Nina looked down at him and replied, "She stayed behind so she could come with her mom. She'll be here as soon as she can."

"I hope so."

"Jin, don't worry. Everything will be fine." She leaned against the wall. Jin looked over at her; she was wearing a simple red dress, a black sash tied around her waist. It was the first time he'd ever seen her in a dress, and in all honesty, she actually looked rather pretty. He himself was wearing his new coat, along with a fresh pair of pants and shirt, both beige. "After a few moments, Nina finally said to him, "Would it help you feel better if I went to go find her?"

"If you want to." Nina then pushed herself away from the wall and disappeared into the crowd. Jin's mind wandered to the others. When he'd last seen Kohta, he'd been wearing his old parka, probably to make his stand out as a member of the Water Tribe. Yu had done the same, ditching his clothes for his old apprentice robes of red and saffron. After a few moments, Nina returned. "Well, she's here," she said. "And she'll be right over." It was only a few moments before they came into view. He spotted Toph's mother first. She wore a simple green dress with no embellishments, and carried herself gracefully as far as Jin could tell, but her stiff movements obviously indicated she was in pain. But the person walking alongside her literally took Jin's breath away.

The person was Toph. There was no mistaking that. But it was Toph as Jin had never seen her, and for a moment, he couldn't believe that she was the same Toph from only a few hours before. Toph wore a plain, dark green cheongsam, with the edges fringed with gold. It hugged her body tightly, showing off the few curves her body had. Toph obviously had worn something like that before- after all, she was from a relatively wealthy family, and she moved with ease while wearing it. But it was just so… different from the dark green pants and dark green shirt, with the tan sleeveless shirt on top and the dark brown belt that she normally wore. The whole image brought a dark red blush to Jin's face. Toph was, quite simply, stunning. Even the bandages over her right eye did noting to detract from how beautiful she was at that exact moment.

She noticed him, and whispered something to her mother before leaving her side and approaching him. As she moved closer to him, he noticed she'd trimmed her hair- it now stopped just above her shoulders, almost the exact same length as when they had first met. When she finally closed the distance between them, she leaned against the wall alongside Jin and said to him, "You look nice." Jin, even in his new clothes and his coat, suddenly didn't feel quite adequate standing next to Toph. "You look… um…" Many different adjectives filled Jin's head: _magnificent, stunning, radiant, heavenly_… but Jin finally said simply, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." At that moment, Zhi called out, "Everyone, may I have your attention please. I would like to thank you all for coming to the presentation of this treaty, and it gives me great pleasure to say that from this time forward, the city and Nation of Ba Sing Se will forever hold its doors open for the Avatar and his kind. And, I have an announcement. In a few days, I will be forming an envoy between myself and the Grand Masters of the Order of the White Lotus to present the treaty to the other nations of our continent. Our first stop will be…"

Jin hardly listened to the King's plan as he made his way toward the balcony at the far end of the meeting room. He stepped out and rested his arms against the balcony's railing, looking over a beautiful garden within the palace walls. Everything was bathed in the soft orange light of the setting sun. He felt a hand lightly rest on his; he looked to his left to see Toph standing next to him. She looked back at him and smiled warmly- he couldn't help but give a shy smile in return. If Toph had been stunning before, she was absolutely radiant in that soft orange glow; her remaining eye seemed to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. Then, she leaned toward him a kissed him on the cheek; a small gasp escaped his throat and his hand shot up to the place her lips touched. "W-what…?" was the only coherent thing Jin could make himself say.

"You saved me. On New Years," she replied. "I guess that means we're even now."

Jin regained his composure. "What made you change your mind?"

"You know, when you told me you loved me two weeks ago, I didn't know what to think at first. But now, I'm glad you did. It made me sit down and think about how I felt about you." She paused. "You know, after we escaped from the Order's fortress, you were unconscious for almost two weeks. I thought you weren't going to come back, but… I was so… happy when you woke up. I think… I think _that_ was the exact moment I fell in love with you." Very slowly, she began to lean toward him; Jin felt his body lean toward her in response. His heart raced; he was finally about to do something that until now he had only experienced in his dreams. Now, their faces were close enough that they could touch; Jin, strangely (to him at least), noticed that Toph was wearing the plain silver headband he'd given to her while they had been travelling to the North Pole. Their lips were just about to touch when suddenly, Jin pulled away. Toph blinked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jin shook his head and leaned against the railing again. "I don't deserve this." He said. "You're just such a great and amazing person, but… I'm not. I'm sorry that- mmph!" At that moment, anything else Jin could have said was silenced when Toph turned his head toward her and pressed her lips against his. Jin was too stunned to pull away, and too stunned to even enjoy the kiss. All he could do was stand there, paralyzed, eyes wide as Toph kissed him, feeling as if the breath was being pulled right out of his mouth. After several moments, Toph pulled away, leaving Jin gasping for breath, his face a bright shade of red. "Jin," she said in a low, but comforting voice, "you're the Avatar. You're the most powerful person in the entire world. You could have chosen anyone, but you chose me. If anyone doesn't deserve anyone, I don't deserve you."

"Just so you know, I didn't choose to fall in love with you. It just kind of… happened." At this, Toph gave Jin another warm smile, and he gave one in return. They began leaning toward each other again when the heard a cheer from the other side of the balcony. They looked over; Yu and Nina were cheering them on with Kohta nearby, face in his hand, his expression either of disgust or a very poor attempt to suppress a smile. But they weren't alone- King Zhi, the Grand Masters, all the nobles and other guests, and even their own mothers had gathered around the balcony's entrance, watching the two curiously. Toph let out a groan of disgust and swung her arm back, preparing to make a wall to block off the onlookers' view, but Jin grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Toph, don't," Jin said. She looked back, surprised. "But, this is sort of a… _private_ moment."

"There'll be plenty of other times for that. I just… want everyone to see how much I love you." Surprise lingered on Toph's face for a few moments before she gave Jin a sultry smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. The act caught Jin off guard for a moment, but he wrapped his arms around Toph's back and gave Toph a confident smile in return. Toph gazed into his eyes, and Jin gazed into her eye, before finally, they kissed again. Jin felt every hair stand up on end and his entire body tingled, as if hot wires had been pressed against his skin. He felt Toph's tongue prod his lips curiously, as if asking for entry. He complied happily. His tongue met hers, and they slowly began to circle each other in an awkward, clumsy dance. Although he had no possible way to compare to anything, Jin felt as if he were doing a terrible job, and cursed his lack of experience; he had no way of knowing that inside her head, Toph was doing the exact same thing. But regardless of how awkward it may have been, there was something special about the intimacy of their kiss, something that made every nerve in their bodies light on fire. Jin would have wanted nothing more than to remain in this special moment forever, but the need for air soon overpowered these desires, and he had to pull away.

They broke apart, gasping for breath, looking into each other's eyes until finally, Toph said breathlessly, "…wow." They were completely oblivious to the crowd of onlookers watching them nearby, their entire worlds shrinking to encompass only each other. Jin held Toph tightly, nuzzling his face against her shoulder, feeling her do the same. It felt… right to hold Toph, and to be held by her. He couldn't help but feel as though they fit together perfectly, as if Toph had been shaped specifically to him and him alone, little knowing that Toph thought the exact same thing about him. He heard Toph whisper in his ear, "I love you, Jin." He planted a kiss at the base of Toph's exposed neck before replying, "I love you too, Toph."

There was still much that they would have to do. There was an entire world out there, one scarred and ravaged by a three hundred year old war, whose echoes dug themselves deep into the new world that had taken the place of the old. It would not be easy to undo the damage, to end three hundred year's worth of fears and prejudices, and there would be no way that they would ever be able to erase all the scars of the past.

But they had a beginning- in a few days, they would be travelling to other nations, displaying their treaty and encouraging others to make treaties of their own. Of course, there was no guarantee that any other nation would follow suit, but any that did would be powerful footholds, that would hopefully lead to change, and peace. And they had their friends- Kohta and Yu and Nina. Though none were related by blood, all had come together into a family. And they would have each other. They would be able to rely on each other, to share their successes, to support each other after their failures.

All of this would take time. But the most dangerous threats to their mission had been destroyed. Rei was dead. Rao was locked away in a Ba Sing Se prison, completely powerless. The Order had been broken, its remaining fragments hunted ruthlessly by the White Lotus. The road would be long, and difficult. But as long as they had each other, they felt that they could face anything. Now, there would be time.

Jin and Toph would have all the time in the world.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
